Christmas party to remember
by snowglobe18
Summary: Molly wakes up next to her boss after a Christmas party and horrified isn't the word, just what is going to happen?
1. Chapter 1

**At the moment this is just a one shot but who knows I might go back to it. I know what you're thinking **_**it's too early for Christmas stories again **_**but! I love writing Christmas stories and this one popped up in to my head last year but I was busy writing two fics at the same time and never got around to writing this one shot so I'm writing it now. **

**Enjoy**

-.-

Her head is pounding hard and she starting to wish that she hadn't drank that much but of course Molly could never deny a few drinks and with it being the Christmas party.. well she definitely couldn't resist any of what was being passed around at the time.

_hmm, it feels so warm_\- she ended up thinking but even just to think hurts her bloody head. The company had actually paid to have to hotel for the night so that meant they had their rooms to come back too and hopefully nurse the hangovers.

There is a grunt beside of her and Molly's eyes widen at the fear that she had done something really stupid because she knew full well that she hadn't been with anyone at the party, no boyfriend for me and she definitely hadn't asked a friend to go with her. Molly opens her eyes and she looked down to see that she was in fact naked and honestly it's the fear running through her at who she had slept with.

So she slowly get up from her pillow and wishes that she hadn't because the alcohol is starting to swim her my stomach and had to wait for a moment before she then managed to look over at the body that was next to hers. He was definitely handsome and he had a _great _bod but when her eyes move up to look fully at the face of the man that's when her world starts to crash around her.

It's only her bosses fucking son.

Sorry, no, he's _her_ new boss as Robert James was retiring and his son was taking over the business which meant that she had just had sex with a man that she really shouldn't have done and not only that she was pissed out of her nut.

She might as well resign right now because sleeping with the boss was definitely a no no and not only that people would talk behind her back.

Molly sat up as quickly as she could but being careful that she didn't actually make herself sick; she managed to actually get up from the bed but making sure she put her clothes on properly and then tip-toed around the bed grabbing her bag and shoes as she went. Molly did have to say that he was literally the best kisser ever and did really enjoy it but now it could very well end her career at the firm that she had been working at.

She looked through her purse and her room key was in there and she just about remembered her room number. Molly looked back towards the bed and thankfully he was still asleep so she carefully tip-toed once more towards the door and opened it. She needed something to drink because her head was pounding and maybe even some painkillers because it was going to be a rough one.

Molly quickly texted her Nan to see if she could pick her up but had a bit of a wait so she closed the door just as quietly behind her and moved in the direction of her own room. What she hadn't realised at the time was that Charles had woken up and rather than say anything he watched the door shut and sighed under his breath.

Charles sat up in bed and rubbed at his own head and he too wished that he hadn't drank so much and maybe sleeping with one of his employees wasn't the best idea but he had got along with Molly Dawes, they had chatted and flirted and definitely ended up kissing once they had got in the lift and really it just went from there.

But he was the boss and he couldn't have an office scandal going wround when he had just taken over. Charles wasn't sure what any of this actually meant especially when people do stupid things at the Christmas party and maybe he could actually chalk this up to one of those stupid things and it might not even bother Molly at all but.. watching her tip-toe out of the room was enough to tell him that she wasn't exactly thrilled at what had happened between the two of them.

Maybe next year he shouldn't go to the Christmas party.

Molly looked in the mirror in her own room and realised what a state she looked, she was definitely going to have to hide away at the office if she could even manage that. At least the party was on a Friday night and she didn't work on a Saturday so that meant she could hide for the weekend.

Molly grabbed herself some water but sadly it was from the tap and she managed to clean her teeth and she felt better about that at least. She looked in the bathroom mirror once more and sighed "The bosses son, really Molly?" She muttered to herself and then chewed on her lip.

The thing was that he was handsome, very much so, and they had actually got on really well. Chatted, flirted, drank together and it felt like this spark had been lit between the two of them but in the end he was still going to end up being her boss. At the beginning of next year he would take over and she would have to answer to him and sleeping with him before hand had been the worst thing she could do right now.

She waited in her room for a while and finally got the text that she had been waiting for and she headed out of her room and then Molly bumped into him and she cleared her throat softly. Her head was pounding hard with every step she had taken and would only get worse so she would have to get some water as quickly as she could.

"Well this isn't awkward at all" Molly spoke a bit too loud and wished that she hadn't because that really bloody hurt her brain.

"About last night..." Charles started and Molly waved him away.

"It's nothing, people do stupid things at Christmas and alright you're going to be the boss next year but that doesn't mean that what happened between us actually has to make things difficult, right?"

"Right.." He said and smiled at her. "Uh, you heading home? Do you want a lift or anything?"

"Should you really be driving?" Molly asked after a moment.

"Well no, I got a car picking me up and I just wondered if you wanted a lift him"

"Of course you are" Molly said and then chewed on her lip gently "I would but my Nan is waiting downstairs and I really don't want to make her come this far and have it been all for nothing" Molly was lying, her Nan actually didn't live that far from her but to him it would be a bit of a drive for Nan. "I should.." Molly pointed towards the lifts.

"Yeah... yes" Charles nodded and honestly wished that he hadn't because even he had a headache. He watched Molly get into the lift and just about caught her sighing out a breath in relief and he licked his bottom lip.

He had to admit that this was going to be really interesting especially if Molly was going to be like this. His father was still the boss at the moment but Charles liked to drop by the office whenever he could and maybe he would just to see Molly... Maybe just to get her a little bit flustered. It was cute.

Charles pressed the other button for the lift and thankfully the doors opened quickly and he was giving Molly time to get away and after pressing the button for the lobby and leaned back against the back of the lift.

But both of them couldn't help thinking that this had been a Christmas party to remember no matter what happened with the job or them working together.

-.-

**What exactly **_**is **_**going to happen between the two of them? **


	2. Chapter 2

**I have had questions on reviews on whether Charles has been in the Army and I'm going to say no this time, it's something completely different. He's taking over his father's firm and will be Molly's boss. **

-.-

The weekend had literally been hell for Molly. A weekend she wished to never repeat especially when Saturday had consisted of her being hungover and wanting to hide away from the world and thankfully had the means to do that for a while.

Sunday however..It was the day that she had found the video on Facebook, her work mate had tagged her in it. The video was of Molly singing really poorly on karaoke she might add with Charles and right now she wanted to hide again because of the fact that the song was actually one she was loud mumbling through. Whoever thought it would be fun to do karaoke really needed a good kick in the shin.

The song would be one that Molly wouldn't ever be able to hear again without thinking of this very awkward moment. It was a good thing that she didn't actually sing the song when she wasn't drunk.

The song: _Don't Go Breaking My Heart_.

How the hell she was going to show her face at work was actually one of the more pressing questions right now especially when she was going back the next day. God help her because this was going to be one of those times she would try to hide in the coffee room for the rest of the day.

If only that was possible.

-.-

Monday actually started off really well especially when she caught the train early and managed to get herself a cuppa before heading in to work. It was however when she got to her desk was when everything changed. She almost dropped her tea when she saw who was sitting at the desk in the office and she swallowed hard.

"Of course you hate me today don't you" she mumbled to herself and shook her head.

"Who are you talking to?" Her work friend Amber said and pushed her eyebrows together.

"Uh, my computer isn't turning on.." Molly lied and then nudged her head towards the flat screen sitting on the desk in front of her.

"Right..." Amber spoke and nodded her head but of course she didn't actually believe Molly especially when she remembers the party and how the new boss and Molly had been flirting so much. "So, guess what" Amber sat down on Molly's desk being careful not to actually knock the hot scalding tea over.

"I'm sure you are going to tell me" Molly sat back in her seat and looked up at the dark haired young woman.

"Michael has asked me to move in with him" Amber smiled big "I know that it's only been a year but who cares right? If you love someone deeply then time is nothing"

Molly looked over at Charles in the office and his head full of his dark curls was down and his concentration was on something on his desk. She prayed that today wouldn't be as bad as she was imagining it right now. "I'm happy for you" Molly said after a moment and looked over at Amber with a smile on her lips.

Amber left Molly alone and it meant that she could actually drink her tea and just have a moment before her shift officially started.

Just as she was about to finish her tea Charles put his head out of his office and said "Molly can I have a word?"

Molly was suddenly feeling a bit hot in the cheeks but she wasn't sure if that was because they had slept together or because of the fact that she was caught drinking her tea but if she was honest it was probably due to the former rather than the latter. She got up from her desk and moved in the direction of the office. Molly looked over at Amber who mouthed to her _What you done now?_ Molly shrugged up her shoulders and walked into the office.

"You wanted to see me?" Molly asked as she walked into the office.

"Yeah, shut the door please Molly"

Molly shut the door and was actually a little bit worried on what was going to be said here in this office especially once she had shut the door.

"How you feeling today?" He asked as he sat back in his chair and watched her.

"Much better without the hangover and I'm a wondering why you're asking"

"Can't a boss ask about his employees?"

"Well of course you can but..."

"But?" he asked with a grin and actually liked seeing her get a little bit flustered.

"Well how we spent Friday night...and all that"

Charles nodded once "You mean singing karaoke?" he kept a straight face but knew exactly what she was on about.

Molly closed her eyes and wanted to die right there and then especially when he actually looked so serious about the whole thing. "Can the ground just swallow me whole right now?" she muttered to herself but when she opened her eyes she saw that he was grinning again.

"Look, Dawes, it doesn't have to be anything serious between us, we had fun, flirted, drank and sang karaoke"

"And slept together" Molly said finally and sighed. "Look, Mr James-" he held his hand up at that

"Please just call me Charles"

"_Mr James_," she carried on "I don't want this to make working between us hard because I really like this job and I want to hold on to it as long as I can and not be the office gossip and have people thinking I'm trying to get ahead in my career" she admitted. The last thing Molly wanted was people talking behind her back and at least this way she knew that they wouldn't be.

As he listened to her talking he nodded because honestly this was a woman who wanted to just get on with the job and not want to let what happened between them change her other than not wanting to be the gossip of the office. "Nothing is going to change, you are still my employee and I am still your boss and that's all it's going to be"

Molly smiled her relief and her thanks because that was what she wanted to hear, that's the very thing that she had been worried about all weekend that everyone would find out and think that she was trying to better her career and she wasn't doing that at all, in fact she was happy where she was and she wanted it to stay that way. "Thank you" she then bit on her lip gently. "Is that all?"

"Yep you may go"

Just as Molly was leaving the room he started to whistle the lyrics for _Don't Go Breaking My Heart _and she looked back with a raised eyebrow because of course he would do that while she was leaving. He grinned at her and she felt like she actually wanted to kiss that grin off of his lips but of course she had just told him that nothing should change, he was still her boss and she definitely saw him naked.

Molly walked out of the office and sighed to herself. She knew that it was almost the Christmas period but flirting with her new boss really wasn't the present she wanted even if he was really cute. She looked back in through the window of his office and saw that he was watching her. She smiled to herself before walking back to her desk and getting on with her work.

She had to admit that this really was going to be an interesting time and would they actually be able to keep this to themselves? Would the two be able to work and not get distracted by the other? Molly was going to make damn sure that no one found out about what happened Friday night and as for whether they would be able to be able to work and not get distracted... Well it was definitely going to be interesting so they would have to see just what happened.

-.-

The day actually went quickly and when it was time to leave she gathered her things and was about to say bye to Charles but he looked like he was having a heated conversation on the phone. She chewed on her lip and turned her lamp off before grabbing her coat and standing up. Molly caught his eye through the window and she held up a hand in a slight wave and gave him a smile and he smiled back even though he still looked angry.

Charles went back to the phone call and Molly walked to the lifts. More than anything she wanted to get away from here and home to have some food because she was hungry.

"Do you want a lift home?" Charles asked as he came to her side and looked down at her.

"Uh, best not, I have the train to wait for me" she admitted and nodded. Molly wasn't sure what to really do but in the end she had decided that it was best not to actually take his offer.

Charles nodded and then looked over at the lift when the doors opened and she walked in to it. "One of these days you'll let me take you out"

"What happened to it won't change anything?"

"It's Christmas, live a little" he smiled at her and watched as she held the doors open for a moment longer "So what do you think? Will you let me take you out one night?"

"I'm washing my hair"

"Oh, what night?" He played along trying to keep the amusement out of his voice but he definitely did like the fact that she wasn't falling for his charm or was she and didn't want him to know?

"Monday through to Sunday..."

"I'm sure we can make up a day for you to come to dinner"

"Don't think so, good night sir" she grinned at him and moved her hand from the doors and stood watching him as the door shut. Molly took a deep breath to try and steady her pounding heart and as she did she leaned against the back of the lift.

Charles' angered phone call was all but forgotten about as he bit on his lip. He did have to point out that he doesn't usually go for women that he works with because it would make it too complicated but there was just something about Molly that he wanted to see if it could work or at least take her out a couple times to get to know her more but it looked like it wasn't going to be _that _easy.

He sighed at the lift and smiled before shaking his head and walking back towards his father's office.

-.-

Molly shut her front door and removed her shoes, her feet were aching and she wanted to just sit down and have a moment to herself. It was the travelling that she hated but if it kept a roof over her head then she would make sure that she enjoyed it.

Her little tree was up in the corner of the room as and she turned the lights on. Christmas made her feel happy and content in her life. There was just something about a lit Christmas tree that just made the room come alive and for a little bit she stood there just watching it before she checked her post and the messages on her mobile and her mother had texted her earlier and she quickly sent one back so that her mother would know she was home.

Her thoughts then turned to Charles and there was this question of _what if _at the back of her mind. _What if _she could have some relationship with him even though she wasn't looking for anyone but isn't that always the way? You're not looking for someone and somehow you find a person that you never knew you were looking for.

But this was work and Molly had to admit that work and personal don't mix and the last thing she wanted to do was get fired from her job just because they broke up.

No, she was going to keep her distance and get her work done and that way at least she will have somewhat of a quiet life.

_Quiet but lonely _the voice in her head said and she ignored it because she was more than happy to be on her own even if it meant staying away from Charles.

Molly sighed and then went to do herself some food. Microwavable meals did her and she was more than happy with that.

The rest of the night consisted of her in front of the TV with her Christmas tree lights on until she headed for bed.


	3. Chapter 3

The working week actually seemed a bit slow when Charles wasn't actually in the office. In fact it actually was boring to the point that Molly found herself looking online and if her boss found her then she would probably be in a lot of trouble. What she didn't expect to find was a newspaper article from the night before showing Charles with another woman and there was even a headline that read..

**Is one of Britain's richest men finally ready to marry again? **

Molly skimmed the article and she wondered just why she had bothered even looking at all because the last thing she wanted to see was the picture of Charles with a beautiful redhead at the bottom.

She jumped a little when she felt hands fall on to her shoulders and she looked up to see Amber was standing behind her.

"Why are you reading that?" She asked and raised an eyebrow.

Molly couldn't help but think _shit, I have to get out of this _and she felt her heart pounding hard in her chest and her palms were starting to get a little bit sweaty and she knew she had to come up with something and the only thing she could really do was tell the truth but she wasn't sure just how much truth would come out of her mouth and how much of a lie would come out.

"I got bored and decided to look through the internet and actually found it"

Amber watched her for a moment before she nodded and then looked over at the picture "I don't know why he's hanging out with her again, Elena really is the biggest snob I have ever heard of and Charles doesn't seem like that" she admitted and smiled at Molly.

Molly smiled at her work friend and wondered if she knew just what was going through Molly's head right now especially with looking at this article. In honesty _she _didn't even know what was going through her head. Molly was sure that Amber was only making her feel better because when she was reading the article there were charities that Elena was attached to, someone who was a snob wouldn't do that, right?

If she's being honest then she wasn't sure what to really believe but figured it was best not to actually bother with any of it. Charles was pretty rich so why would he want to bother with someone like her? Even though he had been eager to want to take her out but that had been at the start of the week and now he was being pictured with another woman.

Molly didn't know why she was even bothered because it wasn't as if she could really do anything about it. They couldn't date because they were in different social circles and the press would probably rip her apart because she wasn't like him.

She closed the website down and leaned back in her chair.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Molly asked Amber and looked over at her "I feel like going for a drink, wanna come?"

"Well I can spare about twenty minutes... or more" Amber grinned.

Amber was literally the friend that would drop everything to be there in someone's hour of need but sadly people in the office, including Molly, treat her like she's a pain. That was going to stop come the New Year. She was going to be a better friend to her because that is what she deserves.

Molly was about to say something but the boss walked out his office and then walked to Molly's desk asking her to go into his office because he wanted a word with her. So Molly looked over at Amber and shrugged up a shoulder before chewing on her lip and waiting a moment before she got up from her chair and followed after the boss.

"You wanted to speak, Mr James?" She asked and stood in front of the desk.

"Shut the door Molly" he said and nudged his head to the door behind her.

Molly walked over and playfully grimaced over at Amber who wished her luck by putting her two thumbs up but she wasn't blind to the looks that she was getting from the others. She shut the door and then walked back to where she had been standing before Mr James told her to take a seat, which she did.

There was silence between the two for a moment where they both just looked at each other and that made Molly feel a bit worried then the boss spoke to her. "How long have you been working here, Molly?" he asked and sat back in his seat.

That stumped her a little bit because that hadn't been what she had expected when she came in to the office and rather than keep the man waiting she said "Almost a year, sir" she said and watched him.

Robert nodded once and chewed on his lip for a moment before speaking once more. "Have you ever considered promotion before?"

"Promotion?" she asked and was a little confused "I mean sure maybe when I've been here a bit longer because isn't that what everyone strives for?"

"Is it?" he asked and watched her once more.

"It is" she confirmed and then gave a slight smile. Molly was confused on where this was actually going because she thought that she was in trouble but now Robert was asking her about promotions and she's not sure how to answer.

Robert sat forward and then moved a piece of paper on his desk and looked down at it. There was more silence before he then spoke again "Charles would like to hire you as his PA. He would've done it himself but he's currently tying up loose ends"

"Probably organizing his marriage" she mumbled, or thought she had, under her breath but the look that he gave her told her that she hadn't exactly been as quiet as she thought she had been.

"Miss Dawes, what my son does with his relationship status isn't anything to do with you but.. I don't see any wedding at the moment"

That filled her with overwhelming warmth to know that there wasn't going to be a wedding any time soon but she told herself off in her head for caring so much. "I'm sorry, Mr James, but can we go back to the part where you said that your son, my soon to be new boss, wants to hire me to be his PA"

"That is correct Miss Dawes, he wants you to be his new PA and he's willing to up your salary"

"_Me_?" she asked again "But I don't know anything about being a PA" Molly admitted and then swallowed hard. "I'm sorry but I can't take the job"

"He's pretty adamant that he wants you for the job, why don't you give it a think over the weekend and you can give your answer on Monday morning" Robert smiled at her.

Molly couldn't help but nod and stand up, if she's being honest this was actually the last thing she had ever thought would happen to her and this is why you don't ever sleep with your boss because they are more than likely to give you the top spot. There was no way that she could do it.

She thanked Robert and walked out the office. Molly's head was all over the place and more than that she needed to think. She felt angry at Charles because whatever gave him the impression that she needed a new job? And one that kept her at his side?

Molly walked back to her desk and sat there with a dazed look on her face mostly because she was sure that this was a dream.

A ping on her screen brought her back around and it was an IM from Amber who was sitting a few desks away and had seen her looking stunned as she came out of the office.

**What happened in there? **

Molly wasn't sure what had happened in the office other than the fact that she had a possible new job and it made her want to bang her head on the desk because there was no way that she could be thinking about this, right?

**Did you get the sack?**

Molly watched the writing before she finally put her fingers to the keyboard and started writing but could she really explain it to Amber without admitting what had happened at the Christmas party?

**No, but I am sure that I'm dreaming though and not sure how to explain it. **

She sent the message back and looked over at Amber who was writing back. Molly felt weird typing on a computer when her friend was sitting across from her but she guessed that was all the fashion now.

**Tell me when we have that drink because I want to know! **

Molly smiled and then sent back **Will do **before she quickly exited out of the chat and got back on with her work. This was going to feel like a long bloody day.

-.-

Finally the end of the working day came and she shut down her computer and walked out of the building with Amber to go to the pub just around the corner. They were sitting at a table by the window and she watched as people walked passed and some of them were carrying bags that were no doubt filled with Christmas presents.

It reminded her that she still had to get presents and with Christmas just over three weeks away she knew that she would have to step on it before the best stuff actually sold out. As much as she would like to say that she was the best person for picking presents out - the truth is that she wasn't. Either over thinking them or under, there was never the perfect gift for her to get so she was determined to start early but hasn't got around to doing it yet.

Molly looked back over at Amber when she brought the two glasses of wine with her back to the table and smiled. She took her own glass before putting it down in front of her. "Ta" she said and then started to turn the glass before looking back out the window.

"So, you want to tell me what actually happened back at the office?" Amber asked after taking a sip of her own work.

Molly sighed and moved her eyes back to the woman sitting next to her. "I've been offered a new job"

"Well that's great, isn't it? I mean you didn't want to be left behind while everyone else is getting promotions, so what _is _the job?"

Molly chewed on her lip for a moment and wondered if she should actually just lie but she knew that Amber would find out in the end and would only be hurt if she didn't hear it from Molly first. "Charles wants me to be his PA..." she watched Amber to see her reaction.

It wasn't what she thought it would be because Amber smiled at her "What's wrong with that?"

Molly took a deep drink before she wiped her mouth and then finally said "I don't know how to PA, I'm just about getting the hang of Instagram and Facebook, I can't do what he wants, _when _he wants and there is far more qualified people there at the office than I am... no, I'm not going to be taking the job"

Amber watched her with an amused look because she had a feeling that in the end Molly would end up doing the very thing she said that she wasn't going to do and that was being Charles' PA. "And on the plus side he is a very good looking man and you get to be his assistant which means you get an up close and personal look at him, If I was in your shoes right now I would be so jumping on that and I mean _jumping_"

The two women laughed with each other and Molly wondered why she had put off going for a drink with Amber so many times before because this girl was proper nice.

"You know I think we can be best friends" Molly admitted to Amber.

"Well then I got my Christmas present early" Amber smiled back to Molly before she then called to the barkeeper for another two wines.

-.-

Molly went home that evening with a choice to make and there were two roads in which she could take..

Accept the job and actually be up close and personal with Charles James or she could refuse and wonder what it would've been like.

She had the whole weekend in which to think it over before she had to give her answer on Monday, it was going to feel like the longest weekends ever.


	4. Chapter 4

Molly definitely had what she thought was a long weekend because she had one of the hardest decisions to make when it came to her career. Mostly she was worried what people would think at work because she hadn't been there long and now she was offered a damn good job? They would probably think she was after the job when in fact she was more than happy to stay at her desk with her crappy computer chair.

Others might think that she was being over dramatic and that she should just go for the job and as she sat on the train Monday morning she was still trying to decide what to do and even when she signed in she knew that she would have to make a quick decision because she was given to Monday to actually decide and here she was trying to think of what she could actually do, Molly knew she was cutting it fine but she needed to make sure that she had everything covered.

When she walked up to the floor that she was working on and everyone was milling around she knew that she had missed something important and as she sat down at her desk she saw Amber coming over. "What did I miss?" she asked as she took off her coat and put it on the back of her chair.

"Mr James -Robert- hurt his back over the weekend and the Doctors don't think he will be able to finish up working here so it looks like we have a new boss starting early" Amber nudged her head towards the office and watched as Molly's face went white as a sheet of paper. "Have you made your decision?" she whispered to her.

Molly shook her head and looked over at Amber but there was a part of her brain that was screaming that she had already made the decision and she was just waiting for her mouth to catch up. She hated being all over the place when it came to what she wanted and so she sighed and finally said "You know what, I have decided" she nodded and stood up before she walked towards the office and knocked on the open door.

Charles looked up "Ah, Molly" he said and shut up his folder "what can I do for you?" he asked and smiled softly.

Molly walked into the office "It's about the job offer" she admitted.

"The PA job," he nodded once and leaned back in his seat "my father said that he had given you to Monday to make up your mind but honestly I wasn't really sure if you would've made up your mind yet so I didn't pressure you and honestly there is no pressure, if you don't want the job then that is fine"

"I'll take it" Molly finally said and smiled at him "I mean I'm not as skilled as maybe some of the others here but I will definitely learn how to work everything..." she chewed on her lip and pushed her eyebrows together because that didn't sound right to her but it made Charles smile so she relaxed her face and let a smile pull at her lips.

Charles was actually glad that she had decided to take the job because of the fact that he had really wanted her to be his PA, it meant spending more time with her and who knows maybe he could finally convince her to let him take her to lunch or even a meal but for right now he was more than happy to have her by his side.

"Well I'm glad about that" he admitted and then chewed on his lip before looking away and looked at the other side of his desk "There is one thing that you could do to start off the job" he said and then looked back at Molly.

"Name it" she walked over and sat down at the desk. To prove that she could actually learn on the job then she would do this for him to start off her job.

"Well you know that I have a son," he said and watched as she nodded "well he's been having a tough time lately and with Christmas coming up I wanted to take him somewhere for a few days and I was wondering if you could organize something for us"

Molly felt horrified inside at the thought that she would have to sort something out for Charles' young son but she would do it, somehow she would figure out where they could go for a few days. "I can do that for you" she smiled.

"I'll give you the company credit card and you can put it on there"

"You trust me with a credit card?" She asked because of the fact that she wasn't sure she would trust her if she was him.

"Well I trust you and I know that you won't spend it on shoes"

"I love shoes" Molly teased and then chewed on her lip gently "I promise that you won't get a bill for over a hundred and fifty shoes"

"We can go over the rest of the contract at another point and that might be after Christmas especially when that is supposed to be when I was taking over"

"How is your dad doing?"

"He's in a lot of pain but I think he's more upset that he can't finish Christmas here and say a proper goodbye to his staff especially when he's committed about this place but he's been put his back out and they don't think he will be back at work before Christmas and with him leaving at the end of the year.. it's likely he won't be back at all but my mother is looking after him so he's in good hands"

Molly was glad that he was in good hands because then he's not on his own. "Well I'll let you get on and get to my desk and I'll make sure to look up places for you and your son to go" she stood up and walked to the door.

"Molly.." he spoke.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that you took the job"

Molly smiled and looked down at the floor for a moment before she raised her eyes once more and said "Me too" then she left the office and went back to her desk. Of course there was a message waiting for her.

**How did it go? Did you accept?**

Molly sat down in her chair and then put her fingers to the keyboard and typed up her reply

**Yes, I accepted and now I have to find somewhere for him and his son to go before Christmas, got any ideas?**

Molly looked up once more when there was a ping and saw the message from Amber

**Not a clue**

Molly didn't want to read that but she would find somewhere they could go after all it was Christmas and miracles happened and she was hoping to deliver the biggest miracle by finding somewhere that they could go.

-.-

Just as lunch time came around Amber walked over to her desk and said "You could try the travel agents and see what they have going or even look online"

Molly leaned back in her chair "That is actually a good idea because I honestly hadn't thought about that, I might go down the agents in my lunch break and then look online when I get back" she smiled before standing up and grabbing her coat off the back of her chair and her purse. She held up a finger to say _just a minute _before she walked over to the office and poked her head around the door "I'm going to lunch, is there anything you want?"

Charles looked at his watch because he hadn't expected it to be lunch time already but he guessed that time was seriously moving. He moved his eyes up to look at her and said "I'll have a BLT, cheers Molly"

"On it" she said and moved away from the door before she walked back to where Amber was sitting. "You ready to go to lunch?" Molly asked.

"I'm grabbing lunch with Michael so maybe tomorrow?" Amber said with a smile.

"Tomorrow it is" Molly nodded once before she walked out with the girl anyway.

When they got to the bottom floor she watched as Amber hugged her boyfriend and she chewed on her lip having that feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that she knew so well. Jealousy. Molly cleared her throat before she left the building and heading in the direction of the travel agents before she would grab some lunch.

The shops were filled with Christmas lights and there were sketches on the window done in fake snow and it all looked so pretty. It was cold too which was giving the whole Christmas period that much more of a kick. Molly made sure that her coat was done up as she braved the cold and was thankful when she pushed the door open to the travel agents and warm air hit her.

Molly was so thankful for the warmth that was in this place especially when everywhere else was cold. She smiled at the two females behind their desks and she put her eyes on the wall of brochures for the holidays; Charles had said about going somewhere for a few days and she needed to find somewhere for him to go.

She picked up a brochure for America and chewed on her lip, she would grab that one for a look through and a few hours. One of the women came up and asked if she wanted help with anything and Molly replied that she was only looking and then was left alone to browse and picked up what she thought would be the places Charles would like to go.

Then as if someone was trying to tell her something another brochure fell to the floor and she looked down at it and across the front was the words **Lapland **and she raised an eyebrow and reached down to pick it up before she looked through it and honestly it looked so beautiful and it was the perfect place to go for kids to just enjoy and with going at Christmas it was the perfect present.

Molly took a deeper look in the book and chewed on her lip gently because of the fact that Charles could easily afford to go to Lapland.

She said goodbye to the two women before she walked out the door and headed in the direction of the food shop and got two sandwiches, one for her and the other for Charles and even managed to get herself a Starbucks. Molly's favourite Eggnog Latte was in and she sat down and looked through the brochures a little more but if she's honest she had found the place she thought would be better for Charles and his son to go to get away from everything for a few days.

When Molly got back to the office she gave Charles his lunch and even set about going back to work but at the same time she looked more online about Lapland and found that they had these cabins in the wilderness and it was perfect because of the fact that it had a hot tub and a person could see the northern lights and if they requested it then _Santa _could leave a present for the Children and it was exciting because she had found the place that they were going to.

It even made Molly want to go with them.

But that was asking too much.

-.-

Molly found herself in Charles' office later that day, while everyone was getting ready to leave, and she showed him the place he would be going "And if you have a private plane then you should be able to get there and there is a hot tub for you and there is snow and the northern lights, I mean come on there isn't a more perfect place for you to go at Christmas and if Sam wants a present then Santa delivers one before you leave as long as you let them know you have a child with them" she looked over at Charles when she finished talking.

"I don't know that seems like a big cabin for just two people, we might have to invite a few more people" he said and chewed on the inside of his lip. "And we can borrow a private jet"

"Well yes you can add more people but either way I'm sure Sam would love to go because I know that I definitely would" Molly admitted.

After a moment Charles then said "Book it"

"I shall do that tomorrow when I get in" she smiled and then nodded before walking out of the office.

That was definitely a success and now she was going to go home and dream of maybe going there one day herself. She said goodnight to Charles and then left the building.

-.-

The next morning she got in early and Molly booked that holiday for Charles and his son, she did ask him to give her the amount of people that would be going but he said he would have to get back to her on that but the cabin was big enough that it probably wouldn't matter how many people went. He just had to let her know how many snow suits that she had to order but she would definitely speak to the people on the phone about it.

Molly was getting excited now for Sam and she would definitely have to have pictures when they got back.

Was it bad that she so desperately wanted to go with them?


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh that looks perfect!" Amber said a few days later when Molly had shown her just where Charles and his son was going in Lapland. "And they are guaranteed snow so that makes it even more perfect" she smiled over at Molly.

"So much more better than the UK with our snow warnings but nothing ever turning up"

"I don't know, we did have the Beast from the East and that was pretty bad"

Molly then smiled before saying "And my dad nearly slipped over in it, that really wouldn't have been good for his back"

Both girls sat and laughed at that because Molly has told Amber about her dad, Dave, and his dodgy back.

"Are you going to this Christmas party at the James' tonight?" Amber asked and looked over at Molly once more "Although being Charles' PA you sort of have to go and anyway I would go for the free food and to have a look around their house"

The day before Charles had announced that his family would be holding a party, sadly his father probably couldn't be there because of his back but those that worked in the office was more than welcome to drop by should they not be doing anything and Amber had wanted to go but she didn't want to be the only person there from the building so she had asked Molly to go with her but nothing had been organised just yet.

"Well if I don't go then you won't be the only one going because I think I heard that Jenny and Tom were going and Andrew was thinking about turning up so you will know people there"

Amber looked over at the faces of the names that Molly had just spoke and she tilted her head to the side slightly well she guessed that she wouldn't be the only one there but she didn't know the others that well; tonight no doubt she would. "It is company policy that the PA does turn up" she said looking back over at Molly and grinned.

Molly sighed "I'll be there then" she muttered and then shooed Amber off of her desk so that she could get back to work.

Work was busy the rest of the day, between taking calls and making appointments and even getting lunch Molly still had time to work out just what she would be wearing to the party that she hadn't even been going to but apparently she was now.

-.-

The house was definitely bigger than she had ever seen a house to be, in fact she thought it was more like a mansion than anything else but from what she found out this wasn't their only place because they had a house in Bath too. That made Molly feel really jealous because of the fact that she only had a tiny little flat but at least she was able to have a Christmas tree because like Kevin said from Home Alone _what's Christmas without a Christmas tree_?

Charles had sent a car to pick her up and it was their turn at the doors and before long the back door of the car she was in opened up and Molly got out of the car, of course the man sticking his hand in to help her out if she so wished for it.

The dress that Molly was wearing was long and black that sparkled when she moved, the bottom of the dress brushed against the ground and the back was open; the heels that she was wearing was making sounds as she moved across the drive to the big house. The clutch that she had in her hand had everything that she would need for the night and she took a deep breath as Molly moved in through the open doors and into the main part of the house and it was decorated with so much Christmas decorations that she fell in love with the place.

There was a Christmas tree in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs and it looked perfect. On the bannister of the stairs there were lights that was twinned with a garland and she wondered just how she could find a place that was more perfect than this and she knew that there could never be such a place.

The place seemed to almost be full to bursting but apparently from what she heard there was a marquee in the back garden and there were heaters in there so it sounded as if they had expected a lot of people to turn up.

Molly looked over when a glass of bubbly appeared in front of her and she looked over to see Amber and smiled. "Thanks" she said and then took the glass from Amber's hand.

"Have you _seen _this place? It is massive and they have more than one bathroom" Amber then sighed "I really want to marry the boss and live in this place"

There was a clearing of the throat and both women jumped a little when they looked over and saw that Charles was standing just to the side of them. Amber's eyes went wide and a flush of red came to her cheeks. He was wearing a black suit with a bow-tie and he never looked so hot in his life.

"Well thank you for that Amber but unfortunately no one actually lives here, we rent it out for parties and _weddings_" a grin pulled at his lips and then he watched as Amber then nodded and walked off looking a little bit embarrassed and he shook his head in amusement.

Charles then turned to Molly and said softly "You look... amazing" he said and looked at the dress, this was definitely different from the one that she had worn at the Christmas office party but he guessed that might be down to the fact that this party was a little bit different from that. "There is something I want to ask you actually" he admitted and then started to speak "I was hoping that-" he was cut off by a woman coming to his side.

"There you are darling, I have been looking for you everywhere" the woman spoke and kissed his cheek gently.

Charles cleared his throat and then said "Elena this is my PA Molly, Molly this is Elena Daniels" he then turned to the redhead beside him "Molly is the woman I have been telling you about that got a cabin booked in Lapland for Christmas" he beamed and then looked back at Molly.

"It's lovely to meet you" Molly said with a smile that felt like she had to force it because what in the hell was this woman doing? She thought that they had broken up and... Molly didn't want to entertain any thoughts right now because of the fact that she wanted to just get this over with and get a drunk down her throat.

"Ah, yes, Molly, Charlie has spoken about you non-stop especially when you find him the Lapland holiday" Elena said with a smile "Have you told her, darling?" She asked and looked over at Charles.

"I was about too" he nods and then clears his throat because this definitely wasn't what he had been expecting to talk about while here. "I -we- were hoping that you could get Elena put on the booking form"

Molly felt her mouth drop open, in her head anyway because she prayed that it didn't fall open in real life, before she cleared her throat and then put on another forced smile "Well the place is big enough that I don't think it'll really matter how many people go with you especially when you have a private plane" she nodded and then chewed on her lip gently "Excuse me, I think I see Amber waving me over," she said and looked back at the both of them before speaking once more "It's so lovely to finally meet you, Elena" she then walked away trying not to let her heart sink into her stomach but it already felt like that.

Molly grabbed herself a drink and then hid in the corner for the rest of the night because now she _really _didn't want to be there.

-.-

When Molly finally came out of her corner, Charles had found her and he asked if he could speak to her. She relunctantly said yes and then they went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to talk because it was actually more quiet up there. Molly stood at the window with her back to him and was looking out at the marquee that was filled with lights and laughing people.

"I'm sorry about Elena, I wanted to tell you in private but she cornered me and-"

"Are you two together?" Molly finally spoke and glanced back at him.

"No" he admits and then walks over to where she's standing "She is my friend and that is it"

Molly raises an eyebrow at him before speaking "Well she clearly doesn't seem to think so"

Charles looks out of the window when he hears laughter from downstairs. "I know what Elena thinks and while I know I shouldn't continue to be her friend, but that is what we were long before we ever started dating each other and now I just want to be friends with her"

Molly wasn't sure what she should say or even do but she guessed that she didn't have to do anything because she had told him that they wouldn't date each other so why should she get jealous now?

"Come with us to Lapland.. it'll be fun"

"With you and Elena?" she asked and raised her eyebrow before shaking her head "It's probably best if I stay here"

"Well Elena isn't the only one going because there is a few friends going too, the place is big enough that we can still have time away from the others and Sam will have friends too, so come, I know that you've had your eye on the place for a while"

Molly hated the fact that he knew she wanted to go, and with there being other people there too it might make things a little bit easier and she could spend more time in the hot tub and away from Elena.

"Does Sam know yet?" Molly asked and turned away from the window.

"Not yet, I'm going to surprise him tomorrow when it's just the two of us"

"Well you'll have to record it because I would love to see his reaction"

Charles knew that Sam was going to love it but he wasn't sure how the boy would take to Elena being there especially when Sam didn't actually like Elena but unfortunately his friends had mentioned it in front of her and he felt like he couldn't back out of letting her come. What Charles had originally meant to ask earlier was for Molly to go with them but maybe he could work out a plan that makes sure Elena _can't _go. His friends he really doesn't mind but Elena.. as much as he wants to be her friend he knows that he shouldn't put Elena and Molly in the same room together without a lot of other people there.

"So what do you say? Do you want to come to Lapland with us? Maybe even see Santa?" he said with a soft smile.

"Well now how can I pass up on seeing Santa, that guy is _the dude_" Molly teased and then chewed on her lip for a moment. More than anything she wanted to go with them, more than anything she wanted to be on that plane with them and getting into snowball fights and in the hot tub watching the Northern Lights pass over but she would probably be too stressed out with Elena to actually have fun and she didn't want that.

"I don't know" she muttered to him.

Molly put her eyes on him and she looked over his face, there was something about him that made her want to reach out and pull him to her so that she could kiss him but he was her boss now and playing with his emotions wasn't fair especially when she knew that he wanted to have some sort of relationship with her.

"You look beautiful" he said and smiled at her. When Charles had seen her walking into the house she had looked like an angel and with it coming up to Christmas maybe he could do with an angel and for a few moments there hadn't been anyone else in the room, he had watched as she walked in more and looked unsure. It wasn't until someone clear their throat that he finally looked away and apologised before asking them to repeat what they had said but if he's honest he really didn't care.

"I thought you might like it and I knew I couldn't wear the other dress again and found this little beauty so I thought I would wear it just for you and you look really handsome that I'm pretty sure all the females have visioned getting you out of that suit"

"Have you?" Charles asked in a soft whisper.

"More than I would like to admit" she whispered back and watched as he leaned in and he put his lips against hers.

His lips were soft against hers and she could taste the drink that he had on his lips and it just added to the scent of him and she sank against him as if that was the only thing holding her up right now. Molly felt his hand settle on her back and ran over her skin before she shivered slightly.

The kiss was getting good when there was a knock at the door and a female voice called through "Charles, they are looking for you downstairs"

Charles pulled back from the kiss and brushed his lips up against Molly's for a moment before he then finally spoke out "I'll be down now thanks, Viv" he looked at Molly and gave her an apologetic smile. He let his hand move across the skin on her back before he dropped his hand and then said "Come find me before you go" he kissed her again once more before he slowly pulled away and moved over to the door and opened it before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

"Oh, Molly" she muttered to herself and put her fingers to her lips and shook her head.

Molly waited for a little bit more before she left the room and walked down the stairs but what she didn't see was Elena coming out the door of an open room and look down at Molly before glaring.

Elena wasn't going to let Charlie go that easily and to a girl who looked as if she had just walked out of a fancy dress shop too. No, she was going to make sure that Molly stayed away for good.


	6. Chapter 6

The next week or so was really busy with Christmas shopping and parties and Molly doing her work for Charles that she pretty much left the rest of the stuff to last minute but the one thing she didn't leave to last minute was her decision to say yes to going to Lapland and while she did worry about the fact that Elena was going too; she knew that other people would be there so hopefully the redheaded woman wouldn't actually start anything.

Charles had got Sam's reaction on video and it made her heart soar because of the fact that it had been so precious. She just hoped that everything went well in the end.

So the night before she was packing her stuff for the trip, her mother wasn't actually sure about her going especially when it was December and nearly Christmas but honestly Molly loved the idea of going somewhere she hadn't been to and Lapland was one of those places that would stay with you forever.

It was a perfect place and not just for children but adults too.

"I have to make sure that I put my toothbrush and paste in in the morning" she muttered to herself and put the jumper in to the suitcase and chewed on her lip because she had to make sure that she had things that would keep her warm.

Then there was the bikini for the hot tub that she was looking forward to getting in; a glass of wine and the Northern Lights was what she was looking forward too. Having a break and just enjoying herself.

Molly made sure that she had everything that she needed and even a few bits of what she probably _didn't _need but it was best to just have everything on hand because at least then it could come in handy if anyone needed anything. They were flying out of the airport in their normal clothes and when they got to the airport in Finland they would get their snow-suits and boots that they would lend the people for their time in Lapland.

Molly finally managed to close her suitcase and put it on the floor and she looked around the room before she headed out into the living room area, if she's honest she was definitely a little bit apprehensive about flying especially when she hadn't flown in a while but she would be fine.

Charles was sending a car for her early in the morning and she had to make sure that she was actually ready on time so that they could leave and make the flight.

Molly turned her tree off for a few days rest and then decided it was best to actually get some sleep; especially when she had to be up early.

-.-

The next morning saw Molly up earlier than she probably should've or would've been but she wanted to double check that she had everything and to pack the stuff that she hadn't packed the night before like her make-up and her tooth brush and paste. She had just finished putting stuff away in the cupboards when there was a knock at the door and she knew that her car was here and she was actually a little apprehensive.

Molly opened the door and smiled at the driver before she handed over her suitcase for him to put in the car and then she made sure that she had her keys and her passport before she grabbed her coat and turned the light out before locking the door on her way out. She wouldn't see this place for a few days and she wanted to make sure that everything was safe even though her mum would pop over a couple of times to make sure that everything was fine.

Molly sat back and just enjoyed the ride to the airport, she just hoped that she would have enough time to get some coffee because she was still seriously exhausted.

When they got the airport, and pretty much sat in traffic while waiting to park outside, she put her coat over her arm and made sure that she still had hold of the passport; she said thank you to the driver after he got her case out of the boot and then smiled before she pulled the handle out and wheeled it into the airport.

This morning she had gone for something warm especially when at the other end of the plane ride it would probably be in the range of -25, if not colder. So this morning she was dressed in a dark pair of jeans and a purple wool jumper and she decided to wear a pair of boots on her feet.

Molly made her way through the airport and felt her phone vibrate in her pocket so she fished it out and found that Charles had texted her to tell her where they were and she felt her heart start to pound a little bit harder because of the fact that she would be meeting friends of his and maybe she wasn't actually all that ready to meet anyone but if they were nicer than Elena then she might just get away with feeling scared.

She finally found them and smiled at Charles and was about to speak when a little human came over to where she was and she looked down at him, he definitely looked like Charles.

"Are you Molly?" Sam asked and watched her with this adorable shyness.

"Yes, that's me" she admitted.

"I have you to thank for this trip and I think it's going to be the best time of my life so thank you" he then hugged her and his head came to her stomach.

Molly pulled back from the hug quickly before she crouched down to his size and hugged him again this time a little better "You're welcome mate, I hope you enjoy it" she said and smiled, her eyes setting on Charles who was watching them.

Both of them pulled away from each other after a little moment and Sam went back to a young girl who was with, who Molly guessed was, her parents and Molly stood up straighter when Charles came over to her. "You have one cute kid"

Charles looked over his shoulder at Sam and smiled before he looked back at Molly "Yes I do" he admitted before nodding. "Did you get here alright? No trouble?"

"Well the cars outside were a bit backed up but I guess that's normal for an airport" she shrugged up a shoulder and saw Elena was talking to the two other friends that Charles had actually brought with him on this trip. Molly knew that he had tried to stop her from going with them but sadly hadn't actually managed it.

"Come meet the others" Charles indicated the two that were standing with Elena and then walked with Molly over to his two friends.

Molly walked with him and she smiled over at Elena who smiled back but she could tell that it was forced, she didn't bother worrying about it right now because she set her eyes on the couple.

"Molly I would like to introduce you to Elvis and his girlfriend Debbie and their daughter Laura" he indicated to the small girl who was talking with Sam and then looked back at Molly.

"Ah, the lovely Molly, we've heard so much about you; it's nice to finally put a name to a face" Elvis teased softly at Molly.

"It really is so lovely to finally meet you" Debbie admitted. She had the most warmest smile and something told Molly that she really didn't have anything to worry about when it came to her.

"So, Elvis, a nickname?" Molly asked after a little bit.

"I'm afraid not" he chuckled "many times I have been asked that but no that's my real name"

"Do you sing like Elvis though?"

"Nope, I sound like nails going down a black board"

Molly knew that she didn't have anything to worry about when it came to Elvis and Debbie, they were cute and definitely a nice couple and they stood talking with her for a while and asking her different questions and it didn't actually bother them that she herself wasn't rich because as Elvis said they weren't rich either and they still kept Charles grounded when it came to stuff like that.

She was going to let her guard down around them a little because she was definitely in company that she could enjoy unlike Elena; who still had the sour look on her face when Debbie had wanted to talk to Molly rather than Elena herself.

After a while they were boarding their plane with the luggage completely safe in the hold.

They were on their way to Lapland and Molly was definitely looking forward to it especially when she had seen what the place looked like.

-.-

There was this mixed air of anticipation and excitement in the cabin of the plane that there were crossed conversations between almost everyone, Molly kept looking out the window because she honestly couldn't believe that a few days before Christmas she was going to a place that was magical for both kids and adults alike.

The conversations carried on right up to the point where they were landing and Molly looked out the window as they landed on the tarmac of Rovaniemi airport, and she smiled at the thought that this place was going to be their home for the next few days.

They grabbed their suitcases and showed their passports, the kids were given these packs and in them contained another passport and the lady at the desk stamped it for them to show that they had landed in the official home of Santa Claus. After they put their snowsuits on and then was shown out to the minibus that was waiting for them.

As they left the airport and the city behind it started to get a bit more snowier as they went into the country and for what felt like a very long time they were on this road that was covered with trees on both sides, so they were pretty much in the trees but when they did finally pull up to where they were staying well the pictures really didn't capture how beautiful this place looked because it looked better with the naked eye than a camera.

Considering that they had been going towards the countryside Molly had noticed that there were a lot more cars on the road than there had been say in the UK.

There were a couple 'oohs' and 'awws' and Molly knew that they liked it, hell who wouldn't like the place. She did glance over at Elena but even _she _seemed taken with it.

The snow was deep under their feet when they got off the minibus and Molly was surprised that it had made it this far but she guessed that they were made of stronger stuff in Finland, they were pretty much used to it more so than the UK was.

Their suitcases and whatever else were handed to them and they walked up to the cabin and Charles did the honours of opening the door and when they stepped in it was honestly like nothing they had ever seen before.

The living room was open planned and it linked with the dining room and in there was a big table so that they could sit and eat food. The living room had french doors that went out on to a veranda that looked as if it could go around the whole cabin. Molly guessed that was where the hot tub was too. Out of the french doors there was a view of forest and they had a big enough garden that the kids could do whatever they wanted there.

It was perfect.

Molly headed upstairs, the stairs themselves were wooden and went around in a circle before coming to a long landing and there were rooms off to the sides and there definitely was enough that she guessed herself and Elena would have separate rooms and so would the kids. It wasn't going to be fun claiming rooms but she was definitely going to find a room with a bed and put her stuff in.

The bedrooms were big sized rooms and the windows overlooked the veranda downstairs because she had her own balcony and in a nice, warm, summer the doors in the bedroom would probably be open but this time they would be staying closed because of how cold it actually was.

Molly put her suitcase at the bottom of the bed that she claimed and undone the first part of her snowsuit before tying it around the waist.

Debbie and Elvis had found the perfect room because theirs had a small room that led off of the main room so Laura would sleep there and Sam would have one of the single bed rooms, Elena would have another and both Molly and Charles would have double bed rooms.

Molly took a picture of the view and made sure that she kept it to one side so that she could show the others back home.

It was perfect and peaceful, even with children who seemed to be both excited and more tired than normal, and it would be one of those times she would treasure for the rest of her life.

Nothing could go wrong here...

Right?


	7. Chapter 7

That night the kids didn't want to do anything because they were so tired and Molly could second that because she too was tired especially with having to get up early and to catch the flight plus the excitement was wearing off.

The kids were in bed early and the adults weren't that far behind especially Debbie and Elvis.

Molly however kept looking out the window and seeing it snowing and for the first time ever she felt content but that might be because she had finally left the country and gone somewhere with real snow and not the stuff that they use at a Christmas fair to give it the impression that it's snowing. No, this was real and they were here.

She heard someone coming down the stairs and she looked over to see Charles was coming down and she smiled at him "Sam asleep?"

"Out like a light but he did say to tell you thank you, I think this might actually be one of those very special times that we're going to remember for the rest of our lives"

"Well I was glad to be able to help" Molly admitted and nodded.

Molly looked back out of the window at the snow and smiled to herself once more "It's crazy to think that Lapland can get this amount of snow and still be able to function but we get a tiny bit and the whole country falls apart"

Charles scoffed at that and looked out the window himself, while he was upstairs he had taken off his snow suit and was wearing proper clothes. They had lit the fire a little while ago and it was crackling in the grate and the guard was allowing it to make weird patterns on the floor. This was the most perfect place right now and he was glad that Molly was here to share it with them because he doesn't think that he would be able to describe this place.

"Well that is the UK for you; we like to fall apart over something and it's snow so I guess it's better than anything else"

Molly had to agree; if it wasn't snow then it would be something else that the country would fall apart over.

"You seem to be getting on well with Debbie" He said after a moment of quiet.

Molly nodded "I like her and I'm pretty sure that she's okay with me being here unlike Elena who would probably wish that I hadn't come with you" she knew that she was probably being paranoid but Elena was keeping her distance from her and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing right now especially when it gives her time to figure out how to get her. Death by snowman perhaps?

"Whatever is Elena's problem then it's just that... her problem because I wanted you here and this is my trip for my son and if she doesn't like that then I'm sure she can pay for her own ticket back to the UK," he watched her for a moment "because I won't have anyone disrespecting you"

Molly's eyes settled on his face for a moment and there was silence and this was definitely the perfect time for them to maybe kiss but that didn't happen and she was okay with that.

Charles broke the silence after a while "I think I'm going to hit the hay and get some sleep, especially seeing as Sam wants to do a lot tomorrow" he smiled and chewed on his lip for a moment before he moved over to where she was and kissed her forehead gently. Charles looked down at her when he pulled away and smiled softly. "Good night Molly" then he pulled away and moved back towards the stairs.

"Night" she said and then watched as he moved up the stairs. Molly chewed on her lip gently before shaking her head and looking back out the window.

The fire continued to crackle when she headed upstairs herself and she made sure that she turned the lights out before she got changed and into bed, the room was softly lit with a small light and she reached over and turned it off but even with the curtains shut at the windows there were light still coming in as the moon reflected on the snow outside and for a moment she was reminded by the poem: The Night Before Christmas.

Molly started to say that in her head but she never actually finished it because she was soon asleep as the softness of the bed took her into the land of the nod.

-.-

The next morning she was greeted by the smell of coffee and food that was coming from downstairs and it made her stir. She finally opened her eyes and looked over onto the bedside cupboard to see a cuppa on there and she smiled as she sat up and took a drink from it.

Molly waited a moment as she let her drink wake her up a little bit more before she got out of the bed and opened the curtains to see that it was still snowing at that it looked perfect out.

She got dressed into some warm clothes and brushed her teeth before heading downstairs, it was definitely noisy down here and yet she really didn't care because this is what made the trip so much more better. The kids.

"Good morning" Debbie spoke and smiled at Molly when she came into the kitchen area "You sleep okay?"

"Definitely, once I got into bed I was pretty much out like a light because of the early morning and the flight, what about you?"

"Up at 6am" Debbie admitted and then held up the coffee cup that she had in her hand and watched as Molly winced comically. "Laura wanted to go out and make snowmen but we managed to actually put her off for about three hours so I guess that is what _we _will be doing today and you know what, that's okay"

Molly knew that kids liked to get up early, she did have younger siblings and living at home was definitely a nightmare when they wanted to get up and wake everyone up early but Molly was pretty much used to it but last night she was so tired that she managed to sleep in a little bit longer this morning and she wanted to feel a little bit guilty about that but she didn't.

"Where is Elvis and Charles?" Molly asked after a moment; she wanted to make sure that her mind didn't wander too much.

"Out on the veranda in their snow suits just having a guy moment with Sam and us girls are stuck in here" Debbie smiled.

"And Elena?"

"Probably picking out the best outfit in which to top yours" Debbie had known Elena for as long as Charles and the redhead had been together and that had been a while but sadly they hadn't been separated that long either and it made her wonder just what Elena would do to get Charlie back.

"She really doesn't like me" Molly walked over to the sink and washed her cup out before she got herself some coffee; it felt like that was what she would need this morning.

"Elena wants to be with Charles and will destroy anyone that gets in her way; she doesn't know how to be without him yet because it's only been three months but she will get there in the end"

"Why did they break up?" Molly asked.

Debbie chewed on her lip and leaned back against the counter behind her before she settled her eyes onto Molly who was across the other side of the counter. She wondered whether or not to tell the other woman just what had happened or let her actually figure it out for herself but she knew Elena liked to play games and she liked Molly. "Charles wanted to just date other people, him and Elena had been stuck in this loop that they couldn't break out of and then suddenly Charles decided it was best to just walk away so that no one really got hurt"

"But Elena isn't going to let him go that easily?" Molly asked and watched as Debbie shook her head. No, Elena wasn't going to let him go so easily.

"So then when you came on the scene it sent her in to overdrive and now that's why she's here trying to get him to see that she's the one for him"

"But I'm not after him or anything or at least I'm not sure I am anyway"

"Elena sees you as a threat and she will make sure that you don't come between her and Charles and that happy ending she wants so badly with him"

"And if he doesn't want it?" Molly asked.

"It doesn't matter what he wants only what _she _wants" Debbie finally said and then took a drink of her coffee and looked over at the door when it opened and both men walked in to the cabin.

Molly watched Elvis kiss the woman's cheek and the ruffle the hair of the little girl and there was a sense of jealousy inside of her because she started to want someone who would do that to her. Who would be so happy to see her no matter what she looked like in the morning. She pushed all of that away before she finished up her coffee.

"I think we should spend the day just making snowmen" Charles said after a little while and grinned at the rest.

Elvis turned his head to the other side slightly and then let a grin pull at his own lips after a while "I like your thinking and it would be a good idea to show the kids that we can build amazing snowmen"

"Oh god" Debbie spoke "Why do I sense a competition coming on?"

"Because of males and their egos" Molly smirked at the two men before she looked over at Debbie "We would _never _be so competitive" she shook her head.

"I have watched women fight over shoes, we know that you can get competitive too" Elvis nodded.

Molly huffed out a soft laugh and knew that Elvis was telling the truth but this time they weren't going anywhere near that.

About five minutes later they were in their snow suits and Elvis, Laura, Charles and Sam were starting their competition while Molly and Debbie decided to just watch.

Elena was just coming out of the balcony doors when a snowball hit her instead of hitting one of the other two females and she raised an eyebrow at Charles before she let a genuine small pull at her lips before she walked off the veranda and down to where they were "You are so dead James" she said and got some snow before she threw it at him.

"Hey now don't be hating" Charles laughed before he grabbed some more snow and started to throw it in the directions of the two females watching.

The snowman competition was actually put to one side because they were having too much fun throwing snowballs and Molly couldn't help but think that this was the first time that she had seen Elena truly have fun and laugh without there being some sort of smirk afterwards.

Who knows maybe this trip will actually lighten the woman up too much or will what Debbie actually said come to pass? That Elena sees Molly as a threat and will do everything to get rid of that threat?

Molly probably knew the answer but didn't want to think about it so much while they were starting to have some fun.

-.-

Later that night the kids were in bed after having a long day of playing in the snow and the adults had broken out the wine and for the first time they were all going to have a relaxing night and Molly decided that she was going to get in the hot tub because it was just sitting outside on the veranda and that's what it was there for, to be used.

So she walked out into the cold after warming the hot tub up in her bikini and of course she took a bottle of wine with her and her glass because why not, right?

The snow had stopped and it was a clear sky night so that made Molly hurry into the water and she had to admit thatt his was better than any hot bath she had back home. She was just getting comfortable when the door opened and she looked over to see that Charles had come out too and she let a grin pull at her lips.

"Can't have you drinking all by yourself out here"

"Uh huh sure, it's of course got nothing to do with the fact it's the hot tub" she continued to grin at him.

Charles scoffed before he shook his head with a slight smirk on his lips then he got into the water next to her.

The two of them didn't see Elena was watching then inside or that Elvis had come up to her side and said "You know he's going to move on eventually and it looks like he already has on to Molly"

Elena looked over at Elvis "Trust me in the end she won't be a threat to us being together" she said and then walked away and Elvis stood there shaking his head because he knew what she was like and Molly was definitely going to be in the firing line but hopefully she holds off until they get back to do anything.

Elvis looked back at Charles and wondered if he knew what he was doing to these two women? He bit on his lip before he moved away from the spot he had been standing in before going back to where Debbie was sitting.

Back outside Molly leaned back in her space and looked up to the sky and watched the stars twinkling. "Do you think we will see the Northern Lights?" she asked after a moment but left her eyes to the stars rather than actually looking over at Charles.

"I think so or at least I hope we do because of all the pictures I have seen they do look pretty and seeing them myself would definitely add that extra bit of awesomeness to this trip"

Molly finally moved her eyes down and looked at Charles "You looked like you were having fun with the snowballs earlier"

"We have so much snow around us right now, hell yeah I'm going to be throwing some snowballs but more importantly Sam enjoyed it, and that's all that is important to me right now"

Molly was going to speak when the door opened up once more and Elvis popped his head out.

"We're heading up, Laura gets up early and I think we both could do with some sleep, see you in the morning guys" he smiled and then looked over at Charles with a knowing look and a slight smirk before he shut the door behind him.

"Well that definitely wasn't subtle at all" Molly laughed softly before she looked back at Charles.

"He's never subtle" Charles admitted before smiling at Molly.

So it was the two of them in the hot tub together and she was sure that that idea was making her cheeks heat up a little bit; hotter than they were thanks to the heat of the water. Molly grabbed her wine glass and took a sip of the red stuff before putting the glass back on the side. She hoped that she didn't knock it in because the last thing she wanted them to find was a red hot tub.

Molly decided to just get it over with and she moved from her spot over to where he was and she watched him smile at her. "I've been thinking..." she said softly.

"Oh dear that does sound dangerous"

"Well my teacher did say that if I had half a brain then I would be dangerous" she nodded a couple times before she then smiled and looked down at the water for a moment.

Charles reached over and moved a strand of her dark hair and put it behind her ear, his finger lightly moved down her cheek before it fell away back to the water "What you been thinking about?"

Molly took a deep breath before she slowly looked up at him and then said "You" she admitted, what was the point in actually denying that?

Charles couldn't help but put his eyebrow at up that "What about me?" he asked.

"About why you want to be with me" she watched him and then chewed on her lip a little before she let it go.

Charles watched her for a moment before clearing his throat "Because of the fact that you have this beautiful soul and you shine so brightly that there's no other star out there and because of the fact that you see passed everything and still like me"

Molly couldn't help but feel her heart pounding hard in her chest and before long she put her lips to his and then sharing a hot tub became about them sharing a kiss.

Charles' lips then drifted down to her neck and she was a mixture of warm and cold and he wanted to warm her up that bit extra.

Molly closed her eyes and chewed on her lip as he kissed her neck and it felt really good that when his lips drifted back up to hers she bit on his lip this time and her arms drifted up to around his neck before she slowly opened her eyes up.

She just hoped that everyone _had _gone to bed because if not then they would've seen them sharing a bit more heat.

God it was reckless but it felt really _really _good. His words had just captured her and she let herself sink into him just as he did her.

Without meaning to she found herself falling in love with him just a little.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning found Molly in her bed and she remembered what happened the night before and a smile pulled at her lips.

Last night definitely hadn't gone the way that she had expected it to go when she got in the hot tub but it definitely was worth it. She bit on her lip and was about to get up when an arm wrapped around her waist and she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Charles smiling at her and then move to kiss her cheek and then he whispered into her ear.

"Good morning, beautiful" he whispered and nuzzled her cheek.

Molly felt the smile pulling at her lips once more and knew that she was happy with everything that has happened so far while they've been there. She could get used to waking up next to him too.

It sounded quiet around the house either that or she was just in her own world that the rest of the house really didn't matter right now.

Molly rolled over so that she was facing him and he moved his arm from around her waist to move a dark strand of her hair from her face "Well I definitely didn't expect that to happen" she admitted and leaned into his hand when he put it against her cheek.

"You mean to tell me that you hadn't been planning to get me naked in the hot tub all this time?" he teased softly.

Molly laughed "I hate to hurt your ego but nope definitely not"

Charles gasped playfully "Well that just hurts me"

Molly watched him for a moment and reached up before running her hand through his dark curls. She watched as he leaned towards her and she then felt his lips against her and happily accepted the kiss, he rolled her onto her back and she put her arms up around his neck as they continued the kiss.

-.-

Down the hall Elena pinched at the bridge of her nose as she swallowed hard. This morning she was feeling a tad bit rough and was tempted to actually stay in bed but she decided to finally get up before heading downstairs.

Debbie was making Laura some breakfast and looked up when she heard Elena coming into the kitchen. "Don't you look bad this morning, late night?"

"I wish but now, I really am feeling ill this morning" she admitted and grabbed herself some water. Elena wasn't sure if she had flu or a cold but either way she was definitely feeling ill.

"Maybe some more sleep will help make you feel better" Debbie said with a sympathetic look. It was the cold weather that was definitely going to work against them, they weren't used to it being so cold in the UK. If they got back home without flu and colds then they would all be lucky.

But it seems like one of them was down already. That wasn't going to be fun going around here.

"Where is everyone?" Elena asked and looked over at Debbie

"Still in bed I think, it's still early"

Elena nodded before she then chewed on her lip "I think I will get some more sleep and hopefully I will feel better later" she smiled softly at Debbie and ruffled Laura's hair before she left the kitchen and went up the stairs back to her room.

Debbie watched the woman walk up the stairs and she wanted to like Elena but no amount of liking her will make her a better person and definitely won't change her attitude towards Molly.

She looked down at Laura and smiled softly before she finished getting her her breakfast and then having a bite of toast herself.

-.-

Molly and Charles finally moved from the bed, unfortunately, a little while later and went down separately as not to make it look like they shared the bed but inside Molly felt like she was going to burst especially with what had happened last night.

If she's honest this hadn't been what she had expected to happen while here but last night reminded her of the fact that she wanted to just grab life with both hands and just live in the moment and if that moment meant being with Charles then so be it.

The two kids were sat in the front room area of the place and had their colouring books out. The use of iPads had been banned from this trip because it was about spending time with the kids and not their technology so they had left then back at home apparently but she was sure that Debbie and Charles had packed them just in case but never told them.

It was oddly quiet and for the first time she actually found herself missing the sound of the kids running around. She looked over at the two in the living room and grabbed herself a cuppa. "No Elena?" Molly asked and looked over at Elvis who was stood in the kitchen.

"Not down yet apparently" he admitted with a smile. "So, did you have a good night?" he asked with an amused look on his face.

Molly felt her cheeks heating up a little at the thought of the two of them the night before before she cleared her throat "I enjoyed the hot tub, it actually felt very refreshing"

"Oh, I bet it did" he grinned.

"Oh, shush" Molly grinned before she took a sip of her tea.

"It's good, he looks happy" Elvis nudged his head over towards where Charles was with Sam and Laura and watched him for a moment.

Molly did too and she chewed on her lip for a moment because of the fact that she had definitely seen him change over the last couple of days and it was as if a light had gone on inside of him, it was beautiful. She wanted more. "He does" she agrees with a nod before she looked away and back at Elvis.

Before Elvis could say anything Molly then spoke again "You better get ready because I have a treat for all of us and you are going to love it"

Elvis looked at her with a suspicious look before he put his cup down and smiled "Well lets see what you have in mind" he then walked out the kitchen and over to where Laura was before he picked her up and took her upstairs to get ready.

Charles looked over at Molly before he moved off the couch and walked over to where she was "Good morning" he gave her a smile.

"Is it morning?" she asked in a tease but if he said that it was then she was going to just go with it, Molly hadn't really set her time forward yet so she wasn't sure what time it really was. "You going to get ready because I have a surprise"

He looked at her with the same suspicious look that Elvis had just had but Charles then nodded once before he too left, with Sam, to get their snowsuits on. Molly had been looking forward to this and she knew that the kids would love it, hell the adults would too.

Molly finished up her tea and then heade up the stairs and as she did she came face to face with Elena who was looking a little rough this morning, was it morning?, but she guessed that that wasn't the best thing to be saying right now. Instead she said "We're going out if you want to come with us? I have something planned that you might like"

Elena looked over at Molly and then cleared her throat softly "No, I'm not feeling so good today so I think I will sit this one out but thank you though" she gave a slight smile before she headed down the stairs.

Molly was a little shocked that Elena had thanked her and all she could really think was _what is she after?_ before she headed up the stairs and into her room to get her suit on for them to go out.

A little while later they had been picked up by the same bus that had brought them here to the lodge and was taking them elsewhere and Molly had told Debbie and Elvis and Charles that if they had cameras or a GoPro then to bring them along because they were going to be needed. She couldn't wait to see their faces when they saw just what she had planned for them.

-.-

The bus stopped after a while and they were deeper into the countryside if that was even possible and as they got off the bus they saw just what they would be doing. They were going sleigh riding with reindeers. Now both Charles and Elvis were glad that they had brought their cameras.

Molly had seen this on a video when she looked up Lapland and it was so beautiful that she had to book this for them and she was glad that she had because something told her that she was going to love this.

They settled into their sleighs, in their families, although neither Sam nor Charles said about the fact that Molly wasn't Sam's mother, and off they went through the country and the trees that were full of snow that it made Molly's heart soar with so much happiness.

Yes it was cold and there was no way around it but at the end of the day the kids were having so much fun that it was so worth everything.

Molly was sat in the middle between Sam and Charles because of the fact that he was the tallest and could see everything better for the camera and she leaned back into his embrace and for a moment she felt like nothing could top this at all. She had found this small family that she never thought she would be part of and it seemed like both the father and the son adored her more than anything.

Charles put his mouth to her ear and whispered "Thank you" into it before he smiled at her when she turned her head to look at him. She nodded at him before looking forward once more so that she didn't miss anything.

While they were on their excursion they saw so much snow that it was just perfect. The amount of snow they had here would cripple the country back home and that is probably why people came to Lapland; to experience things you would never do back in the UK.

There were snow covered trees and Molly was sure that she even saw a couple of cabins that had smoke coming out of the top of them but she wasn't quite sure. Lapland really had it all and it made Molly not want to go home. She really did have to get a copy of the DVD that Charles would no doubt be making of this ride because it was the most magical ride she had ever been on.

Trying to describe it would be hard enough so she was just going to go with the fact that it had been magical, that there were snow and reindeer and the countryside and warm blankets. There wasn't really much other ways she could really describe how all of this went.

The ride continued on for a little bit longer and then they stopped to have a warm drink before they were taken back through the country to where they had began this ride and the bus was waiting for them.

They didn't have much longer here but she had to admit that the sleigh ride was the best thing so far. Unfortunately it didn't seem to last as long as she would've liked so if she ever comes back here again, which sadly she doesn't think she will, Molly will make sure that she books double time.

By the time they got back to where they were staying it was definitely dark and the lights were on and there was smoke coming out of this place and she felt at home. The others went in before Molly and Charles because of the fact that he had put his hand on her arm gently to stop her from going in for a moment.

"Thank you, again, for all of this. Sam is definitely enjoying it" he said and looked at her with that same smile he had had on his lips earlier.

Molly chewed on her lip for a moment "Really it's all down to your credit card that done this" she said in a teasing voice before she gave him a smile too. She knew just what it meant to the two of them especially when they hadn't really been having many good years especially following the break up of his marriage to Sam's mother and then Elena and now his father, who by the way is definitely on the mend but it would take a while, she knew that they both needed this and spending time together made everything that much more better.

"You both needed it and now you can look forward to a future that is much better" she said after a moment and nodded at him.

Charles leaned down and put his lips to hers and kissed her again for the first time since that morning even though he had been dying to do it all day.

They stayed like that for a while before Charles finally pulled away and kissed her forehead before saying "Come on, or all the good seats will be gone for game night" he grinned and put his hand into hers and walked with her into the lodge.

Elena looked better definitely and even managed to join them for game night and it was only the second time that Molly had seen her look truly happy and her earlier comment had been pushed out of her head because for one night everyone was truly happy and she knew that Lapland was doing the job that was needed. It was bringing people together in a place that was just as magical as the story of Santa Claus himself.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day unfortunately was the last day they would be spending in Lapland and Molly was definitely sad about that because she felt like she hadn't seen or done everything but to be honest to actually do everything then they would probably need a few more longer days here but with Christmas coming up they had to head back in time for the rest of the staff to be finishing up work.

Molly felt like she was a bit of a cheat because while the rest of the firm was working they were out here in the snow having a good time but in the end it wasn't all bad because of the fact that she had ended up getting with Charles and the kids spent more time with their parents and Molly had one more surprise up her sleeves before they headed back home.

They decided that on their last day they would spend some time playing games and then out in the snow so first up was card games with Snap and Go Fish, the former turning a little bit competitive when it was just Debbie and Elvis playing.

"You cheated! You actually cheated!" Debbie said and looked over at Elvis.

"How did I cheat?"

"You had your hand ready for when a double came up!" she huffed out before watching him with that knowing eye; Elvis however looked over at Charles for help.

"Oh don't include me in this, mate" he said and held his hands up; Charles knew better than to actually get involved in something like this.

It was funny whenever Debbie got competitive because of the fact that she could make Elvis' life a living hell if she thought he had cheated in a game of cards; sometimes he done it just to annoy her. Other times he done it because he really needed the cards and didn't want to go out knowing that he had lost in a game of Snap.

In the end because of the fact that he was a gentleman he let Debbie win even though she would rub it in.

It was nice to actually do things with the kids rather than then just sitting on the sofa with their eyes down on their iPads. Molly had younger siblings so she knew what it was like when kids got started on games on a phone; hers is usually taken off of her as soon as she walks through the door by one of her siblings asking if they can play that paint game that they love so more of Candy Crush. In the beginning she would lie and say that her phone always needed charging but in the end that got found out ans she gave up lying after that and handed it over just as soon as she got through the door.

Sam was dealing out another round of Go Fish when there was a knock at the door and Molly couldn't hide her smile because she knew exactly who it was that had turned up. "Go and answer the door Sam" she said and nudged her head with that smile still pulling at her lips.

When Sam got up from his spot Charles leaned over and said quietly "What are you up to?"

"Just wait and see" Molly said and looked over at him. "It's worth it trust me" she then put her eyes back on the door and watched as Sam opened it and there was a little shout from the boy at the door.

"IT'S SANTA!" Sam called out to the others and let the man in the red and white suit in.

Molly had arranged for Santa to make a home visit before they headed home and before he officially turned up on Christmas Eve. Laura walked over to where Sam and Santa was standing before all three of them walked to the couch.

The card games were all but forgotten as the two kids spoke about what they wanted for Christmas and for the first time ever Molly wondered what it would be like to have her own baby. Sam and Laura got on so well and he looked after the small girl and it made Molly's heart soar with pride over the fact that Sam would treat the younger girl as if she was his sister. She was no where near ready to have a family but she knew that if she ever _did _have a baby with Charles then Sam would look after his younger sibling so well.

Christmas as a kid for Molly definitely wasn't like this, they didn't go on fancy trips to far away countries for snow or want that new Xbox game or wanted the latest Galaxy phone but it was the one day a year that her family actually got on. The one day a year that they actually sat down as a family for dinner. Now they were lucky if Belinda could get them in the same room at the same time because they were always busy with some club or Molly had too much work.

Molly got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen and watched from there the two kids and she put her hands into the pockets of her trousers. She saw Charles coming over to where she was standing and he had a smile on his face.

"You are just full of surprises aren't you?" he asked in a quiet voice and watched her for a moment before he looked back at Sam who was explaining something to the man in red and Charles doesn't think he's ever seen him that happy.

The kids, along with Debbie and Elvis all sat and had a conversation with the big man himself and after a little while he gave them all presents. They were all made of wood and they each had different ones and they all represented Lapland in a beautiful way. Sam and Laura were still looking at theirs an hour after Santa had left the lodge.

The kids were so excited about the fact that it would only be a few more days til Christmas when they got home and that they would be getting presents again that they didn't have any more games of cards. Instead they decided to go out and play in the snow once more before they would have to leave it behind.

In the snow they had a few games of snowballs and even made snowmen and Molly even took a few pictures that that she could remember this moment. They even took some selfies with the snowmen and even with each other before there was a group one.

Elena didn't make it out because of the fact that she was still suffering with her flu. That was going to be a fun flight home.

-.-

The day went fast unfortunately and before long the kids were in bed, they made sure that their presents were on their bedside cupboards so that they could look at it in the morning.

The adults however had all decided that they would head to the hot tub for one last time and it was fun having Debbie and Elvis there. They had a bottle of wine to go around all of them and it felt nice to just relax into the hot water.

Since they came here Molly had been looking out for the Northern Lights but unfortunately so far she hadn't seen them, mostly because of the fact that she would fall asleep and could've ended up missing them anyway.

Tonight the sky was clear and they were just enjoying the last night in Lapland before they had to sadly head home.

Lapland had definitely been an unexpected journey and she definitely didn't think what would happen here would happen but what if when they got home Charles didn't feel the same? What if it was a holiday romance and nothing more? Molly knew that she was freaking out and that was why she had a bit more of the wine in her glass before she put her attention back on the conversation.

"And then this guy comes up and said my name is Charles and I'm the captain, right? and then he goes to kick the football and literally face plants on to the ground and I felt so sorry for the guy that I had to put my hand out and help him up" Elvis grins over at Charles who rolled his eyes at him.

There was laughter but it was soft enough that it didn't wake the kids up but loud enough for the others to hear in the tub.

Debbie asked Molly if she was done with her Christmas shopping and Molly gave a grimace "Not at all, I still have my siblings to buy for" she admitted. Unfortunately she didn't actually know what to buy them and that really could come back and bite her in the ass if she's not careful. "So I have to go back to the UK and do more shopping and not less"

"Eesh" Debbie muttered because she knew just how much shopping at last minute wasn't fun at all especially when someone wants a particular present and you go to the store to find out that they don't have it in stock until January or even that they wouldn't be getting it back.

"I just hope it's nothing particular because of the fact that I'm not going to be able to get it at short notice but I'll definitely let you know how it goes" she admitted with a smile.

They had conversations about other things and it was nice to relax with friends and ones that liked to be in her company rather than actually being _forced _to be in her presence; then Molly looked up and gasped softly because of the lights in the sky and it was just so beautiful. "Look!" she pointed up and smiled to herself.

The sky was alight with reds and greens and it was like there was a disco of Christmas colours happening in the sky that she knew if she tried to capture it with her phone then it wouldn't actually do it justice but instead Charles grabbed the GoPro camera and set it up and Molly prayed that it actually come out because this was one of those once in a lifetime moments that no one wants to really forget.

In the news there were sometimes reports that the UK would be able to see them but it was mostly the North and there was no way that Molly could get up to the North in time to see these beauties so she's glad that she could see them in Lapland and that they saw them before they went home.

The two couples were quiet as they watched the lights dance in the sky because they honestly couldn't find the words on what it was they were looking at. Describing it would be a miracle because there was literally no words and people had to be there to experience this.

Sadly it was getting later and as much as they would love to stay out in the water in the hot tub and watch the colours in the sky they knew they had to get out and make sure that things were packed. They also needed sleep too because Sam and Laura liked to get up early so that meant that Charles, Debbie and Elvis would be up early.

Molly brought the empty wine bottle and her glass back into the lodge when they all moved from the water, Charles grabbed his GoPro and brought that in too and it wasn't long before Elvis and Debbie were saying their goodnights and heading upstairs in their towels. Charles made sure that everything was locked up and then both he and Molly headed up too.

After saying their goodnights to each other, through words and through a few kisses, they headed into their own bedrooms and they removed their own wet costumes and put them up to dry and it was surprising just how quickly the stuff actually got dried in this place.

After getting into her pajamas Molly stood by the window and continued to watch the lights for a little bit longer before she got into bed and cuddled down under the cover.

-.-

The next morning was a mixture of noise and running around because of the fact they had to make sure that everything was packed up. Debbie and Elvis had wanted to do it before they went to bed but they had fallen asleep and woke to find Laura had gotten a couple of her toys out and Debbie had wanted to make sure that they had them before they headed back to the UK.

Soon enough they were packed up and were saying goodbye to the place because the bus was back outside and Molly felt sad because the last thing she really wanted to do was go home but they had no choice.

The kids waved goodbye to the lodge after throwing one or two more snowballs and getting on to the bus. The adults had double checked, hell even triple checked that they hadn't left anything in a bathroom or a cupboard or under a bed but with everything in order they were heading back towards the airport in their snowsuits and slowly towards their normal lives in the UK.

The journey back to the airport didn't seem as long as it had getting here and soon enough they were handing their suits and boots back before they were able to board their plane because of the fact that it was a private one they didn't have to wait as long as they probably would have if they were getting Thomas Cook back.

The flight back home was quiet because the kids were asleep in their seats and no one really felt like talking especially with how peaceful it was in the cabin.

Molly however just looked out the window at what they were flying over and it still amazes her to this day that planes could ever do anything like this.

She didn't want to go home, she didn't want to go back to her cold flat and be on her own but she knew that she would have so much to do so when they landed and she said her goodbye to Debbie and Elvis and little Laura; Charles took her home with Sam and as she said goodbye to the small boy who got out the car and hugged her his thanks for even arranging this trip her heart hurt because she wanted to go back with them but she knew it was too early.

Charles helped Molly up to the flat, carrying her bags up and into the flat, before he watched her with a soft smile. "I'll call you later, let you get settled back in and get Sam's to his mothers" he leaned in and kissed her softly and held on to the kiss.

"Please do" she whispered against his lips before she finally let him go and watched as he walked down the stairs and she shut the door before grabbing her mail.

"Back to normality then" Molly spoke sadly and looked around her hallway before she went and turned the tree on and put the music up loud so that the neighbours knew she was home.

As Charles got back in to the car Sam said "I like Molly"

Charles smiled and then said "I do too buddy, I do too"


	10. Chapter 10

The good thing about coming home from Lapland was the fact that she now had the weekend off and would be back in on Monday. So what she done was some Christmas shopping because the last thing she wanted was to go out on Christmas Eve and try to get the stuff that she wanted... Not that she has ever done that before...

It felt colder and more Christmasy but could that be down to the fact that she had just come from Lapland? Molly wasn't sure but she did stop off at Starbucks for her usual Christmas drink before she headed off to as many shops as she could get in.

With how close it was to the big day the shops were getting worse and any other year she probably would've got annoyed by the fact that a woman pushed passed her just to get some milk but she was feeling calm. Maybe that trip to Lapland really did wonders or it could be the fact that Charles rang her the night before and spoke to her for about three hours before she headed to bed especially with the tiredness she was starting to feel.

There was a question that was nagging at her head, should she get Charles something for Christmas or would that seem a bit too soon to be getting something? And if she did get him a present then what do you buy a guy who was rich?

Now she was starting to worry about presents and she knew that he would like anything he got but she wanted it to be personal and something that would mean more to him.

So she decided that she was going to ring Amber who she hadn't spoken to since she got back but she definitely needed a friend to talk to right now.

"**Hello?" **Amber's voice spoke over the phone.

"What do you get a guy who has a company and is filthy rich?" Molly asked as she got herself another Starbucks drink.

Amber smiled in to the phone even though the other girl couldn't see that because she was clearly on about their boss and she had called it when she thought that they liked each other and going on a Christmas holiday had clearly upped their relationship and that was good. "**Stockings?**" Amber asked.

Molly sighed softly "I'm being serious"

Amber chuckled softly "**So am I, I mean come on he will love stockings especially if you're in them**"

Molly knew that Amber had her there and now she really _was_ tempted to go to Ann Summers to see what they had in stock but would that be a bit too much? "Maybe something else, like a pen?"

"**Sure, because I doubt he has many pens" **Amber teased her and could hear the despersation in her voice and she took it seriously "**I think anything you get him he's going to like so it doesn't matter what you get just..get him something that's personal from you" **

Molly looked down at the top of her coffee cup before she nodded even though she knew that Amber couldn't see her. "I will do that and when I get back on Monday I will tell you everything about Lapland and show you the pictures but for now I'm going to finish that shopping"

"**Good luck**" Amber spoke.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it" Molly admitted.

After Molly hung up she went back to shopping and it seemed as if it had got even busier when she was sat having another drink. Two cups of Starbucks Eggnog Latte was starting to rattle her frame and knew she would have to not have that many in one trip again because of the fact that Molly would probably end up needing to be carried home.

She walked passed Ann Summers and chewed on her lip as she stopped and looked up at the shop sign before she rolled her eyes and then headed inside. Amber had got inside of her head especially when she was looking around the sexy underwear or even the nightgowns. They had a Christmas collection that she looked through and couldn't help but wonder if this was the present that she wanted to give him.

But that definitely didn't stop her from buying some hot underwear.

Molly got most of her shopping done, of course there were a couple things that were out of stock and the shops that had them couldn't guarantee that they would have them in before Christmas even if they were going to be getting one final delivery before then. She said that she would check back but thought it would be best to see if they had it online.

When Molly got back to her flat she put her feet up and actually fell asleep on the sofa.

-.-

Molly woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door and she checked the time; it was way passed 7pm. She checked her hair in the mirror just in case it was someone that she really wanted to see, the last thing Molly wanted was for Charles to see her looking a mess but then again he would probably like her anyway.

She opened the door and there standing in the doorway was Charles but he wasn't alone because he had brought wine and pizza and for a moment she thought she could fall in love with him so easily.

A man brings food and she falls in love with him!

They sat on the sofa with the pizza and wine and they started talking about the holiday and how much they both enjoyed it and when they had had enough pizza Charles laid his head on a pillow that was on Molly's lap and she started to run her hand through his dark curls.

"What you thinking?" he asked as he looked up at her and knew that she was in deep thought about something but he wasn't sure what it actually was.

"About how all of this is going to work out at work especially seeing as I am your PA" she muttered.

"Well do you want anyone to know?"

Molly thought about it for a moment and apart from Elvis and Debbie and Amber no one else knew that they were together. "I want to hold off on that for a little bit" she admitted and looked back down at him.

"Okay" he nodded once and would respect that. Whatever Molly wanted then he would go with it, he just wanted her to be happy and he hoped that she was.

Molly leaned down and kissed his forehead softly before sitting up and smiling once more.

They sat in silence for a little bit as they held on to each other and watched her Christmas tree twinkling in the corner.

The silence was broken by a phone ringing and Charles relunctantly sat up and fished in his pocket for his mobile and saw that it was his mother. She usually rang up for a nightly chat to tell him how his father was doing, it would take a long while before the old man was up properly on his feet but now the conversations were slowly turning to what he was doing for Christmas and he had made arrangements to actually head to their house in Bath.

He answered the call and his mother asked where he was and she wanted him to call by, their house outside of London was where they were at the moment so he promised to head there first before he went home. Charles was actually a little worried especially if his mother wanted to pop by.

"I should head over and see what it is" he spoke after putting his phone into his pocket before he smiled.

"You should especially if you're worried" Molly could see it on his face that he was worried about whatever it was his mother was going to tell him.

Charles moved after a moment and stood up before grabbing his coat off of the comfy chair and put it on before he leaned down and kissed Molly, once, twice, three times, before he went to pull away and then kissed her a forth time.

"Will you be dropping by tomorrow?" She asked and then after she chewed on her lip.

"No but I'll call you because I have a lot of paper work to catch up on before Monday"

"Well you are leaving it a bit too late aren't you?"

"Well I had to see someone special" he winks at her before he then finally says "I shall wish you goodnight" Charles then watched as Molly got up from the sofa and kissed him again and started walking him backwards in the direction of the front door. In all honesty he could happily stay here the night but that call from his mother had worried him and he needed to find out just what it was that had happened. He hoped it wasn't anything to do with Sam...

They got to her front door and their lips were still attached and Molly reached behind him and pulled the door open before she gently pulled back from his lips and pushed him out of the door "_Go_ otherwise I won't let you"

Charles grinned at her "I like the sound of that" he admitted and kissed her once more before he walked away from the doorway and Molly.

She watched him head down the stairs again and then finally she shut the door and picked up the pizza box that still had a couple pieces in it and the glasses and bottle before heading into the kitchen.

Because of the fact that he had planned on drinking he decided that he would have his father's valet bring him here and he called him to take Charles to his parents house.

Molly washed up and put everything away before she decided to head to bed, especially when tomorrow night she would have to be in bed early for work anyway so she might as well get back in to that routine.

-.-

Sunday consisted of getting ready to go back to work, even if a part of her really just wanted to live in ignorance about having to return. She liked her job, loved it actually because it meant that she was near Charles, but at the same time she really didn't like getting up early.

She found her clothes out for the next day and hanging them up on a hanger before she went and had a bath and listened to Christmas songs. It was the last few days before Christmas and she knew that those days were going to be busy and she was more than ready for that.

Charles didn't end up ringing unfortunately and it was making Molly feel worried that something might've happened so she texted him to find out if he was alright but she didn't hear back from him. Something was wrong, she knew it was.

It made her worry all day and even had a rough night thinking that maybe his mum had talked him out of his relationship with Molly and that was why he ignored her; or it could be to do with his dad. Oh god, what if it was about Sam? The last thing she wanted was for anything to happen to that boy.

Molly finally got to sleep around 1.30ish and she had to be up a few hours later and was seriously exhausted the next morning.

-.-

Monday morning saw Molly sitting on the train and trying so hard not to fall asleep but more than that she just wanted to go back to bed.

She just about had time to get herself a drink and a coffee for Charles before she headed in and really wished she hadn't actually turned up because Amber pulled her to one side and she started speaking about Charles.

"You don't want to go in there, he's in a foul mood this morning" Amber whispered to Molly and looked in the direction of the office where Charles was standing with his back to the window of his office.

Molly frowned slightly and looked down at the two coffee cups she had in her hands but she knew she would have to go in there eventually especially when she was his PA. She nodded her thanks before she headed in the direction of her desk and put the cups down on it before she removed her bag and coat.

She picked up the coffee cup and walked to the door and knocked on it. Molly actually hoped that he didn't shout but he called over and she opened the door before she walked in. He still had his back to her and was looking out the window.

"I have your coffee for you" Molly said and put it down on the desk and watched him. He kept his back to her and she wasn't sure why he was doing that at all.

"Thanks Molly" he said after a moment and glanced over at her and nodded before he looked back out the window and put his hands in his pockets "That will be all for now"

Molly pushed her eyebrows together "Is everything alright?" she asked and then received a nod of his head and knew that something wasn't right at all. Rather than actually stand here with him arguing she walked back out the office but she didn't see the way his shoulders sank when the door shut behind her or the sadness that crossed his features when he was left alone with the quiet.

The day went passed somewhat slow and as much as she wanted to stay away from his office, she knew it was her job to help him out with everything.

Lunchtime came and went and she watched as it went from 1pm to 5.30 so slow that she was sure that the clock had stopped a few times just to drag her day out more longer than it was.

Soon enough the office was emptying around her and she got up from her desk and packed her stuff up before she walked into his office, after knocking of course, and put everything that he needed to sign on his desk.

Molly shut the door after a moment "I know that something is wrong because you never rang me last night and didn't even answer when I texted you and this morning you're in a bad mood and I haven't seen you like this before, what is wrong?"

Charles looked up at her and sighed before he chewed on his lip for a moment. He didn't want to say it, he didn't want to tell Molly but it wouldn't actually keep quiet for very long. Charles didn't want to see the hurt on her face but he had no other choice but to tell her. "Elena is pregnant and it's mine"

Molly had expected so much to come out of his mouth but that was one thing she _hadn't _expected. She felt it like she had been punched in the stomach and it felt hard to breathe. "Oh, wow" she said and sat down on the sofa he had in his office.

"That was what my mother wanted to see me about, Elena had turned up and my mum convinced her to tell me and honestly I felt like my whole world had fallen apart because of that" he got up from his seat and walked over to where she was sitting.

Molly wasn't sure what she should say to that, she felt like she was going to lose everything. Hell she _knew _that she would lose everything.

"I don't know what to do" he admitted and watched her. Charles hadn't wanted to tell her here, he wanted to tell her somewhere else but he knew that he would have to tell her eventually. "And then I got your text last night and I felt so much worse because of all this, we have something good and then this happens and..."

Molly swallowed hard and then nodded before she brought her eyes up to look at him. "I think you know what you should do, she is having your child after all"

"But I would lose you..." he mutters and watches her. The last thing he wanted was to lose Molly.

"She's having your baby Charles, it's a no brainer" Molly stood up from the sofa and looked down at him. "I have put the forms you need to sign on your desk for tomorrow and I am going home"

"Molly..."

"Goodnight" she said and walked out the office after opening the door and shutting it behind her. Molly grabbed her stuff and walked out the office before taking the lift down.

She thought that she would be okay and even kept her composure in the lift and knew that if she made it this far then she would be alright after that. Molly hadn't expected to cry on the train ride home.

It was packed with people going home from either work or shopping and she just about managed to get a seat but her eyes fell on a couple that were kissing and she then felt the tears well up in her eyes and she looked away, heading her head against the window. Molly felt so heartbroken that she wasn't sure she would know what to do right now especially when she had fallen in love with Charles.

These next few days were going to feel like hell and after Christmas she would see if she could get another job where she didn't work so closely with him.


	11. Chapter 11

The next couple of days felt like she had been living in a slow motion movie because every day seemed to drag so slowly.

Seeing Charles felt like she was being made to suffer for something that she had done in her past. Molly realised that she wasn't going to be able to do for long because every time she saw him it felt like a sharp pain in her heart.

Elena had been so cruel because she had let Molly fall in love with Charles before she snatched him back from her. Molly even wondered if there was a baby at all because it had all been a bit too convenient that she was suddenly pregnant with Charles' baby when the two of them were falling apart but Molly didn't say anything because the last thing she wanted was the drama from that woman.

-.-

Molly looked out of the window of the office and wondered just how she had managed to get this interview so quickly but she guessed that the new company was crying out for people and she could do with a new job especially now.

"And you're coming from working with Robert James, yes?" the man, Darren McClyde, had asked. "Didn't like working with his son then?"

Molly looked back at him "Something like that and yes I'm coming from working at James and Son" she nodded and smiled softly.

"And where does your boss think you are now?"

Molly chewed on her lip for a moment "On my lunchbreak" she admitted. It was the only time she could really come in and right now needed to get out of that place because seeing Charles hurt her heart so much.

"I like you Miss Dawes and I think that you would be a great asset to my team so I'm going to be giving you the job and I know that you have to work your notice and with Christmas coming up I doubt that it'll be long so how about you start next month?"

Molly felt a huge surge of relief because she honestly thought that he wouldn't give her any job especially when he had read on her CV that she was currently working at James and Son but to know that that wouldn't be the case, she was so ready to start now but she knew that she wouldn't get paid for a while so working after the New Year would be great "I'll take it" she said with a smile.

"Great well I'll send you over the documents for you to sign in the New Year and we will take it from there" he said and stood up and once Molly did too he held out his hand and she grabbed hold of his and they shook hands.

"Thank you for taking me on Mr McClyde, it does mean a lot" she let go of his hand and grabbed for her handbag.

"Well I'm sure that I won't regret it" he showed her out of the office and walked with her to the lifts. "I have to ask, why do you really want to leave the other firm? I mean I have heard of Charles James, who hasn't, and he seems like a really good guy so I haven't ever heard of anyone leaving before"

Molly wasn't sure she could answer honestly so she said a lie "One of the other women there I don't get on with and I would rather cut my loses and run than stay for her to make my life anymore of a living hell" She hoped that he believed her on this one because that was all she was willing to say.

Darren nodded his head and he wasn't sure if he believed her or not but he didn't say anything about it either way. Instead he just pressed the button for the lift and watched as the doors opened, he then turned to her "It was really lovely to meet you and I will see you after the New Year" he smiled.

"Yes you will" Molly smiled back before she stepped into the lift and pressed the button for down and the doors shut.

A blonde walked up to Darren's side and then said "Are you sure you want to take anyone else on?"

"She is from James and Son, Alisha" Darren said and looked over at her "If I can take just one person from that company then that will feel like a conquest" he admitted "plus if Molly comes over then she might bring the other staff" he turned and walked with Alisha back to his office.

-.-

Molly finally walked in to the office and just about put her coat on the back of her chair when a voice came from the box on her desk and it was Charles' voice and it sent butterflies to her stomach as he asked her to come into the office. She hesitated for a moment before she finally moved away from the desk and walked into the office. She wasn't sure whether or not to tell him now that she was leaving.

"Ah, Molly" he said looking up from his desk to the dark haired woman who had walked in to the office and shut the door behind her. "Tomorrow seeing as it's Christmas Eve, I think it's best if we close early because of the fact that everyone will have a lot to do tomorrow and I'm going to be driving to the house in the country"

Molly watched him and listened but she really didn't want to think of him driving anywhere with Elena and that was why she had gone for another job so close to Christmas and she knew it was the only way she could get out of here. "Closing early would probably be best especially when some people probably have last minute stuff to do"

Charles watched her and it registered what she had just said and then decided to rethink everything. "Actually maybe it's best that no one comes in tomorrow with it being Christmas Eve and everything, it would've only have been til one or two anyway so it's not worth getting up for and they all will be paid"

Molly nodded once more; this was so hard to stand here and not be able to touch him. Not be able to tease him in any way shape or form because he was no longer hers. She didn't ask about him to Debbie because that would make things so much more worse but she was sure that Debbie was waiting for the moment that she finally did ask. "I like that idea"

"I tried ringing you last night but you never answered" Charles said finally because he had to ask her why; why she never picked up the phone.

"I know" she said with a slight shrug to her shoulders, like she doesn't care that she didn't answer it. Molly then felt ashamed because she wasn't that person, she wasn't the type of person who didn't care because she did, very much and standing here with him ask _why _she never picked up the phone hurts. "If it was work then it probably would've waited til this morning but clearly it wasn't and... you can't call me now because you're with Elena and.. I have to move on"

Charles felt that like a punch to the stomach but he guessed she was right because of the fact that he had finally got back with Elena. He went to say something but Molly beat him to it.

"I'm putting in my notice, I'm leaving" she had to say it before she changed her mind and it was better to just come out and tell him straight away.

Charles was actually gobsmacked by that and he honestly didn't know what to say. He went to step towards her but she held her hands up.

"Please, don't," she said and shook her head. "I have to go, It's not been that long since you told me about Elena and watching you walk around the office and talking to you it just makes feeling all of this so much worse" she admitted and watched him. "I feel as though we were having an affair and you've finally gone back to your wife and I don't want to feel like this so I have to leave this job"

"Where will you go?" Charles spoke after a moment of watching her; even from here he could see the tears in her eyes and he never, ever, wanted to see her cry or be the one that made her cry.

"It's not for you to worry about, I'm sorted and everything will be alright in the end" Molly spoke but at the moment she really didn't feel that way especially when everything was getting her down right now. They had had the most magical holiday and now they were like this and to make matters worse was the fact that she was in love with him and now everything had gone out the window.

"I will have my notice on your desk at the end of the day" she said and then chewed on her lip "Is there anything else you would like?"

Charles shook his head and let her leave his office.

Molly had never been that bold before but she had to make it clear that she was leaving no matter what and with Christmas coming up she had to get her notice in before that. She was glad that they were having tomorrow off especially when all she wanted to do right now is cry.

-.-

Again the day went by achingly slow and when Charles came out to announce that they would be having the day off tomorrow she was sat at her desk writing out her notice.

When hometime came they had a drink to toast Christmas and she was glad to just get one glass before she ended up putting the envelope on his desk and grabbing her coat. Molly wanted to slip away so that no one came after her, and she had just about made it when Amber called her name.

"You leaving already? I think we have another bottle somewhere that we can open" Amber smiled at her and Molly tried so hard to smile back but she really didn't feel it inside. "You're going aren't you?"

Molly nodded her head "I'm leaving after the New Year and I'm getting out of here because of the fact that I love my boss and he's going to be taking his pregnant girlfriend to Christmas at his parents and I will probably be sat at my parents with my noisy siblings trying so hard not to cry" she admitted and chewed on her lip.

That was actually the most she has spoken to someone about all of this but she finally got it all out in the open. Molly, sadly, didn't feel any better for it though because it made everything seem so much more real. The last thing she expected was for Amber to come over and pull her into a hug and Molly to enjoy it so much.

"No matter where you work you and I will always be friends" Amber said and then pulled back before putting Molly's face in her hands, them settling on her cheeks, so that the dark haired woman could see the truth in her eyes. "I have your back, always"

"Always" Molly smiled this time actually meaning it before both girls let each other go and Molly pressed the lift button and the doors opened up quickly. She held her hand up in a wave as the doors started shutting, Amber waved back.

The journey back home was a nightmare but once she got back to her flat she shut the world out so that she could have time to herself and as she did she sat down on the floor in her front room and wrapped presents, even if she didn't actually feel like it.

Molly tomorrow would take the sexy outfit back to Ann Summers because she wouldn't be needing it but for now she was going to sit and wrap her presents with a glass of wine and Christmas songs playing out of her iPod dock.

Christmas was the worse time to actually be lonely and as _Lonely This Christmas _by _Mud _started off she found herself crying and she hated Elena.

-.-

Back in the office Charles found himself turning over the envelope in his fingers that Molly had written on and he didn't want to accept this but he knew that she would be going anyway, he couldn't stop her. Elena had literally ruined everything and now here he was stuck with a woman he didn't want to be with because she was having his baby.

He opened the draw to his left and put the envelope in there and pulled out a jewellry box and opened it up, in it was a bracelet that had _Lapland 2019_ engraved on it and he had planned to give it to Molly and had brought it not long after they got back, in fact that Saturday he had been out shopping himself and now he couldn't give it to her.

Or maybe he could, maybe he could leave it somewhere only she would find it.

Charles reached over for his phone and texted the second woman who would actually listen to him...

He asked her if it was okay to swing by and she replied that it was, so he quickly sent one back saying that she would be there in a little while. Charles said and stood up, putting his coat on and slipping the jewellry box into the inside pocket.

He turned the lights out as he left and knew that he would be back here for a couple hours tomorrow. It might be Christmas Eve, he might not have any staff tomorrow but that didn't mean he didn't have work.


	12. Chapter 12

Charles pulled up outside of the house and got out the car. He stared up at the upstairs window and saw that it was off so that meant that Sam was asleep. He walked up the path and knocked on the door gently enough that Sam wouldn't hear it but loud enough for her to hear.

The door opened and he was greeted with the blonde haired woman and he smiled softly at her. "Thanks for doing this"

"No problem" Rebecca replied and she let him in, shutting the door after him when he was walking towards the kitchen.

Charles had been heartbroken when his marriage to Rebecca had ended because of the fact that she had been so unhappy and rather than drag her down anymore, as they had married young, he let her go and now she was happily married to Mark. If they had stayed together then they would have only been miserable and he never wanted that for her.

"Coffee?" Rebecca asked as she came into the kitchen.

"Uh, no I'll have a cup of tea if that's alright, too much coffee at night will keep me awake" he smiled slightly and then removed his coat before putting it on the back of a chair and sitting down in it. "Sorry it's late, we had a small party at work because we're not opening tomorrow"

Rebecca put her hand to her heart and gasped playfully "You not working tomorrow, the world is ending!"

Charles laughed and looked down. "Well tomorrow _is _Christmas Eve and everyone could do without working tomorrow even if no one would ever get anything but at least then there wouldn't be a mad Christmas Eve rush to get everything done"

Rebecca leaned against the counter and watched him. "What's on your mind?" she asked and knew that he had come here to talk. She never thought that this would've happened between the two of them, that they would be able to talk so openly like this but they didn't have a disastrous end to their marriage so that might have something to do with it.

She loved Charles very much and would always do because of Sam but she never regretted her decision to get out because they were both much happier now or at least _she _was happier; Charles not so much.

"I'm trying to do what's right and it just keeps coming back to bite me in the ass"

The kettle boiled and Rebecca made them both a tea before she took both the cups over to the table "What do you mean? Right by who? Elena?" She asked and sat down in her chair. "I never did like her if I'm honest"

"That's because she doesn't like you, I think it's because we got married so young and she never did get the chance" Charles teased softly.

"Will _she_?" Rebecca asked and took a sip of her tea before putting the cup down on the table and looking at him.

Charles knew that he didn't want to marry Elena, he didn't want to tie himself to a woman that he didn't even love. Sadly Elena had been there when he needed someone and it was just company but unfortunately he had let her think it was more and now he was in a situation where he loved one woman and the other was having his child. Molly had told him to be with Elena, so that's what he was doing but it wasn't what he wanted.

"No" he said and shook his head.

"Then you have to tell her because you need to make your intentions straight, you are there because of the baby and nothing more.." Rebecca then went on to say "Are you sure there _is _a baby?"

"I've been thinking that to be honest, I mean the closer I got to Molly the more Elena was acting strangely and then suddenly there's a baby? I don't know something doesn't add up at all"

"You need to get that checked out before you go down a path you won't come back from and let the girl you do want go"

Charles looked down at that "Molly is already gone"

"Gone? What do you mean she's gone?" She asked and watched him.

"She gave her notice in and said it'll be til the New Year but with Christmas and the bank holiday, I don't honestly think I will see her again"

"Charles you really are an idiot, and sometimes I wonder just how you manage to get anything done; tell Elena as it is, tell her that you will be there for your child but you love Molly, I mean you do love her right?"

Charles had been thinking about that the last couple of days but he was sure that he had been in love with her in Lapland but all of this just makes it so much hard to convince Molly to go back to him. "I must be if I'm not sure what to do" he smiled softly he reached over and grabbed his cup; he took a drink of tea and then spoke again "What you doing for Christmas?"

"We're going to Mark's mothers Christmas day, mine tomorrow and Sam is with you on Boxing Day so that means a friends party for us here" Rebecca couldn't wait for Christmas "What about you?"

"Mums, we're having a family thing so that's going to be interesting"

"How is your mum and dad anyway?"

"Still in love after all of these years and with dad's back, they're like two peas in a pod, can't do without the other; I know that they will be so happy to see Sam though, they're probably more excited to see him than they are me"

"Well of course with Sam they can give him back after a few hours but with you.. Well they're stuck with you" Rebecca grinned at him.

"Oh har har" he said but tried hard not to smile because when Rebecca smiled, it definitely still made him smile.

"What are you going to do about Elena?"

"I don't know at the moment, I'll deal with it after Christmas. It's the one day a year that we sit down and eat as a family and I'm not going to let anyone change that this year"

They sat and talked a little bit more and then when Mark came home, Charles liked him he was definitely someone that made Rebecca happy, he headed home himself because he just wanted to relax.

He spent most of the night looking at the box on his coffee table before he decided that he was going to give it to Molly but he was going to be putting a note with it. If she didn't want to see him then it was the only way he could get his words out. He spent most of the night writing it out.

-.-

**Christmas Eve**

Molly made sure that she had everything she was buying for her siblings and had decided that she wasn't going to take the stuff back to Ann Summers because she really didn't want to look like a saddo.

She stepped into the coffee shop and shook out her umbrella as she put it down before walking up to the counter and ordering herself a coffee and a doughnut because why the hell not, right?

Molly found a table after she paid for her goods and she looked out the window at the rain coming down and wondered just why the hell they had to have rain especially when other countries like Finland had snow at Christmas; that's what really made it feel Christmassy.

She tore into her Christmas doughnut and went through her phone, her mother kept checking up on her and Amber wished her a Merry Christmas by sending her a selfie with her in a Christmas jumper that had a Robin on the front of it with a Santa's hat. So what Molly sent back was a picture of her doughnut to which Amber replied with was a sad face because of the fact that she was saving herself for loads of food tomorrow and the day after.

Molly put her phone away and went about eating her doughnut and drinking her coffee.

She was in there for a little while and was about to walk away from the doors with her umbrella up when she bumped in to Elena and right there Molly felt like her day had just got so much worse. "Excuse me" she said softly and moved but Elena moved with her.

"I want to apologise for what has happened" Elena spoke and nodded as if confirming that was what she wanted Molly to know.

"On which part?" Molly asked "For tricking someone in to being with you or for just being a straight up bitch?" she asked and watched her.

"I don't know what you're talking about! We are going to be having a baby and we're happy!"

Molly nodded because she really didn't believe her but it didn't matter what she believed because she had told Charles to be with Elena and now she was moving on from the job that she loved because the man she loved was with another woman. "Well have a good Christmas" Molly said and then moved around the redheaded woman and started walking away.

"Molly.." Elena called out and turned to watch the dark haired woman stop and turn too "If it matters to you, Charles was falling in love with you and now.. well now he's with me so I think you'll find I win in the end, I _always _win" she smirked softly before she walked through the doors of the coffee shop.

Molly wanted to strike her with her umbrella but would feel guilty if the evil witch actually was pregnant. She took a deep breath before she went back to walking away because in the end there were still things she had to do.

The shops were a nightmare and after seeing Elena's smug face Molly felt every frustration in her afterwards. This was why she didn't like doing Christmas Eve shopping and leaving it all til last minute but like usual she does.

-.-

Arriving back at her flat she was glad to put the shopping down in front of her front door and reaching into her handbag to find her keys when the door across the hallway opened up and she looked over her shoulder "Good afternoon Mrs Mitchell" Molly spoke and smiled

"Ah afternoon Molly, I have something for you!" she said and held up a finger for her to wait and then walked back into her flat to get the parcel for Molly. Rose brought it back out and then handed it over. "A real nice gentleman brought it for you, tall and dark haired, he said to tell you that you have to take this" she smiled. "You have a boyfriend, dear?"

Molly looked down at the letter on top and recognised the writing and saw that it was Charles' and felt her heart pound hard in her chest. "I helped out someone and they wanted to repay me I guess, have a lovely Christmas Mrs Mitchell" she said and smiled before she grabbed her keys out her bag and opened the door. She picked the bags up and brought them into the flat, shutting the door with her foot before putting the bags in the kitchen.

Against her better judgement she ripped open the envelope and started to read the letter that was with the present.

**Molly, **

**I knew that you wouldn't accept this gift so I left it somewhere you could find it, probably with one of your neighbours knowing me.**

**I saw this and knew I had to get it for you just so that you would remember the time that we had in Lapland. I know that I will never forget and I know that sounds wrong to write it in a letter but it was probably the only way you would hear it from me. **

**There is so much I want to say but would you continue to read this letter if I did actually tell you? I would like to think that you would so here goes: I love you. I will love you for the rest of my life. **

**You brought back the happiness in me that I have been lacking since Rebecca left. The reason I ever got with Elena was because of the fact that she was a safe option, I was lonely and she was there and now all of this has taken a turn that I never thought would actually take but it's **_**you **_**that I love, not Elena. **

**I know that I should be saying this to your face but I can't take the hurt look in your eyes and I don't want to see you cry because seeing the look on your face in the office when you told me that you were going, that hurt me to the core and I know that it's hurting you too. **

**I know that you walked away because of Elena and the baby and saying this will only hurt you even more but I had to tell you how I feel, I wish it could be to your face. **

**Thank you for bringing me back, Molly, thank you for being the most wonderful woman that I have ever known; even if you were in my life for a little while. **

**Merry Christmas, my love**

**Love Charles x**

Molly felt the tears bubbling up in her eyes and she swallowed hard before she put the letter to one side and opened the box, in it was a silver bracelet with _Lapland 2019 _engraved in it and she felt her heart want to explode at that. She reached into the box and took the bracelet out before she held it in her hands.

"Oh, I love you Charles James" she muttered to herself and she felt herself cry again.

She put the bracelet on and after she put all of her shopping away Molly went and celebrated Christmas Eve with her family, the letter in her handbag and the bracelet wrapped around her wrist was from a man that would love her and who she would love.

But she knew eventually she would move on but that day wasn't today. Today she was going to revel in the notion that a man loved her, even if they couldn't actually be together.

Molly opened the door of her childhood home and decided to let Christmas begin.


	13. Chapter 13

Christmas in the two households were completely different and if someone was looking at them from a TV point then they really could pick out the parts where it actually showed just how different it was.

Due to the fact that his father couldn't move they had to change where they were having Christmas, so Charles ended up staying at the house in the cottage just out of London and was closer to Molly but knew that he couldn't have her. He did text her Christmas morning to wish her a good one and got a lengthy text back that consisted of her thanking him for the present and how she would always remember Lapland and that she hoped in the end he would be happy.

The house was actually quiet and Charles found himself wishing that he was anywhere but here, with Sam at Rebecca's til Boxing Day it definitely was one of those days that he would rather forget but to make it so much more worse was the fact that his mother wanted to know if he was going to marry Elena.

After the conversation he had had with Rebecca the night before he knew that he would have to be careful with what he said to his mother because the last thing he wanted was her sticking her nose in when it comes to what was going on with him and Elena and he definitely didn't want her to find out about Molly because she really would make her life very uncomfortable.

In London at the Dawes place it was a noisy affair with no one getting any quiet and Molly wouldn't have had it any other way because at least then she didn't have time to think about the text that she got from Charles that morning, the text that was burning up space on her mobile phone in her back pocket.

Molly had delivered the presents that she had got her family and they loved it and they had got her presents too even though they really didn't have to. If she's honest she's glad that she was at home; because sitting alone at her flat sounded like the worst Christmas ever and she didn't want that at all.

For Charles Elena came over later that night and they spent Christmas Day night together just watching TV and his thoughts kept going to Molly who was no doubt spending Christmas at her parents and he looked over at Elena who had fallen asleep with her head on a pillow before he reached up and grabbed a blanket and put it over her.

On Boxing Day Sam was spending it with Charles and his family and Molly spent half a day with her family because Nan had turned up and brought some stuff but in the end she went back to her empty flat with everything that she had got for Christmas even though her eyes kept looking down at the bracelet that was wrapped around her wrist.

Molly decided that she was going to go and have a soak in the bath just so that she could relax.

-.-

Unfortunately Christmas was over too quickly and in the end Molly ended up going into to see her new boss and when she got there she realised that not everyone was there but she did see someone that she knew and tried her hardest not to be seen because the last thing Molly wanted was to be seen by Elena because she would no doubt rub it in to Charles that she had seen her at McClyde's.

But more importantly what exactly was Elena doing _here_; Molly didn't know that Elena knew the boss.

"And if you had been seen?" Darren asked Elena before raising an eyebrow at her.

"I was careful you know, scarf and sunglasses"

"Yes because that doesn't look suspicious" Darren said sarcastically and then sighed.

"Plus it's not like anyone expects you to get any visitors, you're not exactly that popular, Daz" she spoke and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you want this time, Elena?" he finally asked and watched her once more. "I did what you asked me to and now you've got what you wanted so I think that we're pretty much done, don't you?"

What was it Darren done and what was it that Elena had? Was this about Charles?

Molly found herself listening a little bit closer but making sure that no one actually saw her and trying hard not to bump into anything or make a noise because of the fact that she didn't want to be found to be listening to what was going on.

"Can't I visit an old friend?" Elena asked and raised her eyebrow at him.

He walked around his desk to where she was standing "Well according to you I don't get visitors so I will ask again, what do you want this time?"

Elena sighed and cocked her head to the right side "I want to make sure that you don't tell anyone what we done"

Darren scoffed and nodded once "So you came all the way to make sure that I don't tell anyone, wow that is really not surprising"

"I need your reassurance that you're not going to mess this up for me because I won't be the only one to lose a lot of stuff, you will to"

Darren watched her for a moment and then finally said "I'm not going to tell anyone what happened but the truth will come out one day Elena, you can't run from it at all and the day that it does finally come out, I won't be the one who loses everything; that will be you"

"And there was me thinking that you still loved me"

Darren scoffed "Even that is fading and fast" he warned her.

Molly was trying to understand all of this, could Elena be talking about the fact that she was pregnant and had Darren McClyde helped her to _get _pregnant? To trap Charles because she knew that she was losing her grip of him?

She wished that she hadn't heard any of this because of the fact that she really wanted to work here; could she still do that? Could Molly just ignore everything and actually work here?

She move from her spot quietly and then moved in the direction of the doors before she took the steps down a couple of floors and took the lift down the rest so that it didn't look like anyone had been there.

Molly just about made it out of the building and around the corner before Elena stepped out. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she leaned her head against the wall and really wished that she had taken a video of this so that Charles could hear what a bitch Elena really was.

So that he could hear everything she had said so he could free himself from the clutches of this horrible woman.

Molly grabbed her phone out and went to start calling him but.. how could she prove this? If Elena has taken every precaution to stop people talking out against her then having Charles comfront her wouldn't do any good. She was going to have to show him the evidence and maybe working here would be the way she could do that. Maybe once and for all she could get Elena out of Charles' life.

So Molly was going to go for that job, she was going to keep an eye on everything this end and see if she could get Debbie to keep an eye on everything her end and maybe they could put Elena to rest for the last time.

She walked into the building and went back up to the floor and signed all the documents she had to and would be starting up after New Year, at least this way she could get straight to working.

Molly was going to make sure that Charles found out just what Elena was up to. Whatever that was of course.

-.-

It was the day before New Year's Eve and Molly was looking through a magazine at home and it was a new one. She decided to have a bit of down time before she was out tomorrow night because who doesn't want to spend New Years by the Thames and watch the fireworks? Amber had asked her because she had an extra two tickets and apparently she was inviting someone and Molly felt like it sounded like a blind date.

That was a little worrying but apparently the guy had just wanted a good night out and rather than spend it alone she thought Molly would like to go, she had literally jumped at the invitation and that was because of the fact that she just wanted to go out.

She flicked through the pages and she came to a page that she really didn't want to see and that was to tell the world that Elena Donovan was pregnant and it made Molly feel like shit because it brought back the reality of the fact that Charles was actually rich and a little bit famous.

But how did they get hold of this information?

Could this be what Darren and Elena had been talking about a couple of days ago? Or was it something completely different? Molly had to admit that it did get her thinking about just what it was that Darren had done for Elena.

"Ugh" she said and threw the magazine to the side of her and it landed on the sofa next to her.

What made it all that much more harder was the fact that that night Charles had requested to be her friend on Facebook and she sat there for a while deciding if this was the best thing to be doing right now; should she really accept the request? In the end she denied the request and turned her phone off.

-.-

Charles checked the status of his request and found that it had been denied and it felt like he had been punched in the stomach by that and he had put his phone down and as he did Elena walked into the room and he smiled at her slightly and watched as she sat down on the sofa next to him.

"Everyone has been congratulating us!" Elena said with a grin on her lips "And you know that that means freebies all the time which I am so looking forward to and of course the pictures in the magazines"

Charles had dreaded this and when the press had attacked Rebecca he had got angry and told them to back off from his wife and son and he guessed that was down to the reason why Rebecca hadn't been happy and in the end he had let her go. "Great, can't wait" he said with a smile before he looked at his phone when it vibrated.

"Who is that?" she asked and went to reach for his phone but was out of luck when he got to it before her.

"Elvis, he wants to go out for a drink and I said that I would meet him out" he said and stood up "Shouldn't be too long" Charles watched as Elena puckered her lips for a kiss and he kissed her forehead instead before heading out.

Elena watched him leave before chewing on her lip and guessed that it was actually Molly that he was meeting so she decided to follow him and when they both arrived at the bar that he was 'meeting Elvis' at she found that he really _was _meeting Elvis and she shook her head at her being so stupid and managed to slip out before they saw her.

Charles and Elvis sat at a table away from the bar and they sat talking about everything when Charles finally said "I can't do it anymore" he looked over at Elvis. "I can't pretend that I am happy, now I know how Rebecca felt and in the end I let her go"

"You know that Elena isn't going to be that easy in letting you go, I mean if she was then she would've let you be with Molly by now" Elvis knew how he felt about Molly, hell the whole would probably see it if they were put together in the same room. "Have you asked her to this thing tomorrow night?"

Charles shook his head "I did try to friend her on Facebook but she denied me; so not the best start"

"She probably thought that you were Elena pretending to be you, after all it wouldn't surprise anyone if she had actually done that"

"Nothing about Elena surprises me anymore and that is why I have to get out of this relationship because I will only make myself miserable and that's not fair to a child"

Elvis watched him and took a drink from his beer bottle. "Charlie you just want to tell her out right that you don't want this rather than actually wait for those months to drag on" he then cleared his throat "Charlie..."

Whenever he was like that he knew that Elvis had bad news and this was the kind of news that he couldn't take and Elvis would rather not say it but he was going to tell him anyway. "You might as well tell me Elvis because you know that it's better to just get it out in the open"

"Well," he sighed and put the bottle back down on the table "there has been some chatter, and I know better than to listen to chatter but you know I also like talking, that McClyde has managed to snag someone from your company"

Charles pushed his eyebrows together "No one is leav-" he stopped dead and then looked down at the table "Molly; he managed to get Molly" he shook his head. "That guy is the biggest dick ever and even at school he didn't like me"

"What are you going to do?"

"Well Molly has already left so I can't stop her or even ask her to stay but maybe I could get her to rethink her decision to join that bloody company" he drank up the rest of his beer before he stood up.

"Oh we're doing it now?" Elvis asked and nodded before he too finished up his drink then headed outside. Surprisingly they managed to hail a taxi and took it to Molly's flat on the other side of London.

This was going to be interesting.

-.-

Molly looked up when there was knocking at her front door, well knocking was actually a bit tame because this was banging, and she got up from her sofa before heading to the door. "Alright!" she yelled through the door and opened it up.

She came face to face with Charles and was a little surprised that he was banging on the door because the last person she ever thought would do that would be him. "Everything alright?" she asked softly even though she was a little worried about why he was banging on her door this time of night.

"We have to talk" He said and looked over at Elvis who was at his side before looking back at Molly.

Molly sighed under her breath and nodded before letting them both in and looking down the hallway before shutting the door behind her. She wasn't entirely sure what they were going to be talking about but something told her that this was going to be a conversation that wasn't going to be good at all.


	14. Chapter 14

Molly took a deep breath as she walked into the front room where Charles and Elvis were now. She was sure that this wasn't going to go well at all but when if he knew about Elena then that made things a little bit more easier.

She looked over at Elvis who was sat on the couch with his head to the side before she looked over at Charles who seemed to be pacing in front of her sofa and if he wasn't careful then he was likely to walk right into her tree but before he could he turned and looked at her.

"I know" he said and nodded once.

Molly felt her shoulders deflate and she felt the stress fall off of her because thank god he knew! "You have no idea how good that sounds" she admitted with a smile "I wanted to tell you so much and maybe then you could do something about it"

"Really?" He asked "You can't work there" Charles finally said and watched her.

Wait, what was this actually about? So he didn't know about Elena?

"You're talking about McClyde's?" she asked with a confused look on her face because she thought that he was talking about knowing about Elena but that clearly wasn't what she wanted to hear.

Elvis looked over at Molly and knew that there was more to this than the woman was letting on because clearly she thought that Charles was talking about something else and he wanted to know what exactly that was. Maybe he could talk Charlie around and maybe just maybe he could make him see sense.

"What did you think I was talking about?"

Molly watched him and knew that that was her moment to tell him just what she thought he had been on about and she was about to say it, her mouth was open and she could happily have said about Elena but at that last minute she changed her mind and said "That you found something silly in my old desk" she turned away and winced slightly because of the fact that that was the most stupid excuse ever.

Elvis scoffed because even _he _knew that she was lying but of course Charlie couldn't see it. Was he really that blind or did he see it but just didn't say anything? Did Charlie have his own plan up his sleeve or did he really not know the woman that he claims to love?

"Why do you want to work there anyway? Why go to _that _company?" Charles asked.

"What exactly is it about this guy that you hate? Why can't I want to work at McClyde's?" Molly looked between Charles and Elvis and the latter shook his head slightly but that was a little bit too late because she had asked it and when she looked back at Charles he looked somewhat sad.

"We were at school together and lets just say that he was a cunt" he said and put his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and watched her "So please will you not go there"

Molly sighed and then looked towards the window and chewed on her lip for a moment before she then looked back at Charles "It's a job for me, it's money coming in when I'm going to need it and I can't go back to your company for the reasons that I told you when I left; seeing you and knowing that I can't be with you it's.. too much and I know that Elena is pregnant, I know that, and I do love you but being in love with you and working with you it's.. like a pain in my heart everytime and working at McClyde's, I have none of that"

Maybe she should've just told him that she was working there to find out what Elena was up to but had decided against it; maybe she could tell Elvis and maybe he would keep her secret but for now she wasn't going to tell Charles because he had too much on his plate without adding this. Especially if he thought he was going to be a dad again; Molly saw how he adored Sam and to find out that the woman who was carrying his child could be lying; it would hurt him and she didn't want to do that especially with a new year coming up.

"I'm not going to change your mind about working there am I?" Charles asked. He wanted her to say that he could change her mind, that she would heed his warning of Darren McClyde but something told him that she had already made up her mind and wasn't going to let him change her mind no matter what.

Molly shook her head and wished that she could tell him that she was doing this for him but then she would have to explain everything and if she spies and finds the proof that he needs to stop Elena once and for all then it'll be worth it no matter what she loses in the process.

Charles sighed and shook his head; he could sit here and tell her all about how much he really disliked McClyde but if it was falling on deaf ears then he really couldn't do anything about it, could he?

The words died in his mouth and he then shut his mouth before looking over at Elvis "Maybe we should go" he said sadly and then walked towards the door.

"I'm coming" Elvis let Charles walk ahead of him before he stood up and then said to Molly "I know that you're lying and I can't work it out why so you and I are going to have a chat later, I'll take him home and then I'll ring you to find out just what you are up to"

Molly felt her jaw tighten and she nodded once before watching Elvis walk out the front room and then the door open and shut as the two of them actually left the flat. She should have told him what was going on; should have told him what she had heard Elena talking about but then he probably would've demanded that she didn't go back to the company but if this was her way of finding out what was going on once and for all and maybe even take Elena down.

-.-

Elvis took Charles home and when he got home himself he and Debbie sat and Skyped with Molly to find out just what was going on and why she really was working at McClyde's and Molly had finally spilt everything that she had heard.

She told Elvis and Debbie about the fact that Elena had been there when she had turned up but thankfully hadn't seen her because she was sure that if the redhead had then it probably would be game over for Molly because she knows that Elena would probably want to kill her rather than let Molly tell Charles what she had heard so she was going to be sneaky about it and look from the inside.

Molly didn't realise how good it felt to tell someone about Elena and honestly she was glad it was Elvis because at least he knew what Elena was like. At least he would believe her when she told him everything; which thankfully he did.

They worked up a plan and Elvis would help out as much as he could and even Debbie said that she would chip in too.

These three people cared about Charles and wasn't going to let Elena take him for a ride anymore. They were going to put a stop to it.

-.-

**New Years Eve**

Molly will be glad to see the back of this year especially when the last couple of weeks had been hell at least tonight she could have fun and leave all of her troubles in 2019 rather than taking it in to 2020.

She was going to Fireworks on the Thames and couldn't wait even if there was a guy there and it felt like she was being set up on a blind date.

"What's he like?" Molly asked Amber as she put eyeliner on; Molly had rang her up to find out just what this guy was like.

"Well he's Michael's cousin and honestly if I wasn't with Michael then I would _definitely _jump his bones but the only thing is that he's American so not over here for long; just visiting for Christmas and New Year"

Molly raised an eyebrow at what Amber had said and knew that she really loved Michael so his cousin must be really good looking if that was the reaction the other woman gave. "So what's his story?"

"Well his mum and dad moved to America a little bit after Michael was born and they've swapped holidays; sometimes they go over to see them and sometime they come over to see his family so they are really close, well as close as you can be with over three thousand miles between you" Amber admitted.

"Well I'll meet you and then we can head to the Thames together"

"Alright see you soon"

The two girls ended their phone call and finished getting ready for one of the biggest nights of the year. The night when one year finishes and another one starts.

-.-

Molly was waiting for Amber and when she finally saw her she was glad because of the fact that it was just so busy and she wasn't sure if she would actually end up meeting because the amount of people that had walked passed her.

She had changed outfits a few times because of the fact that she didn't know what to wear; it was winter out and definitely cold plus they would be standing by the river for a while as they watched the fireworks so she threw the skirt that she had tried on back on the bed and went for a nice pair of jeans and heels.

Molly had put her dark hair up into a ponytail and topped it all off with a cream scarf. When she saw Amber she couldn't help but grin because the other female was dressed up with a hat, scarf and gloves on while linking her arm with Michael's. It was cute and so Amber.

It was the man next to Michael that caught her eye to because of how handsome he really was and now she knew what Amber had meant about wanting to jump the guy because he was definitely someone who needed to be jumped on.

His dark blonde hair was a mess and it looked as if it was intentional, as if it was hair that just didn't want to cooperate no matter what he tried and honestly he looked good.

"Molly!" Amber called out to her and waved so that she would see them and then let go of Michael's arm before walking over.

"You look warm" Molly noted and gave her a hug; honestly anyone who looked over Amber really did need a check up from the neck up because she really was a lovely person and she would rather take someone who was real like Amber and Debbie over people like Elena.

"Well standing by the water in the winter really is going to make you feel cold" Amber admitted before pulling back from the hug and then looking over at Michael's cousin.

Molly looked over at him to and realised that he had blue eyes and they were a beautiful blue that someone could get lost in. It wouldn't be too bad to have a night of fun right? It's not like it's got to lead anywhere; sometimes just talking with someone different can make all the difference in the world.

"Molly I would like to introduce you to my cousin" Michael finally said "Clay, this is Molly, Molly.. Clay"

"Clay Spenser" Clay said with a smile and looked over at Molly.

"Molly... Dawes" She found herself smiling back at him; Clay really did have a cute accent.

"Doors?" Clay teased at her "Is that a common name in the UK?" he couldn't help but move his smile up to a grin.

Molly laughed softly "Well I suppose it could be"

"It's Dawes," Michael said and looked over at his cousin "D-A-W-E-S"

Molly looked over at Michael "I think he understood what the last name is, Clay clearly likes to tease" she looked back at the dark blonde haired man.

They both looked at each other for a while before Amber finally cleared her throat and they both looked away before Amber then spoke and said "Shall we?" before pointing towards where the ticket checkers were so that they could get in.

"Sounds good" Molly nodded and started walking besides Clay as they moved with the other two.

For the night Molly was going to have the night off from Charles and Elena and whatever was going to happen when she got to work in a few days time; tonight she was going to enjoy herself with friends and a very handsome man.

For tonight she was going to live in the moment and just forget about everything else.

-.-

The four of them were having so much fun and Molly wished that she had come before and yeah it was cold and you had to stand a long time but that was all part of the fun.

Then the countdown started: **Ten**

**Nine**

**Eight**

**Seven**

**Six**

**Five**

**Four**

**Three**

**Two**

**One **

The crowd then started shouting "Happy New Year!" and the fireworks started on the London Eye. Michael got a kiss from Amber and both Clay and Molly just stood there looking a little sheepish before Molly finally said "Happy New Year"

"You too" Clay smiled.

Even though Clay was handsome, even though he had those gorgeous blue eyes and lips that were _definitely _kissable; in the end it was Charles that she was thinking about as the countdown started. It was him that she wished she was with right now.

Maybe in the end she just couldn't move on.

Because in the end it was _always _going to be _Charles_.

No matter what.


	15. Chapter 15

While Molly had a blind date, which was really what it was, Charles had a date with every businessman he could think of and sadly some that he really couldn't put face to name and that made him feel a little bit shitty but he had a lot to go through right now.

He kept zoning out on conversations that he was actually meant to be part of, they would often wait to see what he said and he had been giving them a _lot _of blank looks to the point he would laugh and then take a drink.

If he kept this up then he was likely to be drunk way before midnight.

That doesn't seem like a bad idea right now because at least he would hafe an excuse to leave and not come back for the rest of the night.

The last time they had a party here it had been before Christmas and he had told Molly that he wanted to be with her and now he was standing here with Elena on New Year's Eve and more than anything he wanted to be with the girl that he _did _love and not the one who was having his child.

His mother and father had been married a long time; they had wanted him and he had wanted Sam when Rebecca was pregnant with him but having a child with Elena wasn't something that he wanted but he had to step up and take responsibility for his actions.

"I hear congratulations are in order" a gentleman, Mr Daniels, had said to Charles.

"What for?" he asked softly and smiled.

"I hear you and that pretty redhead are going to be parents"

Charles looked over at Elena and watched her for a moment, she was deep in conversation with the wife of a wealthy business owner and he had to look away and back to Mr Daniels, Fred. "That we are" he put that smile back on again but honestly didn't actually feel like smiling, he felt more like crying than anything else.

But of course he's not going to do that. The last thing he wants is to have all these people thinking that he's unstable to run the business.

Charles let Fred go and talk with some other man who was more aware of what he was saying when there was a tap on his shoulder and he looked over to see Elvis was at his side and he has never been so thankful to see his best friend as he was now.

"You look bored there, Charlie boy" Elvis said around a glass of champagne.

"You are sadly not the only one who has noticed" Charles admitted and looked over at his mother who was talking to Fred and frowning in Charles' direction.

"Here, drink this, it'll make things better" Elvis handed over a second glass of Champagne and smiled.

Charles drank the drink quickly and put the empty glass on a passing tray before he grabbed another one. "I think I'm going to need a lot of drink tonight" he admitted. "So where have you been, you said that you were only popping to the toilet and you never came back"

"Are you my wife or my mother?" Elvis teased at him.

"I sometimes feel like the latter but god help you if I end up turning into the former because I won't let you get away with as much as Debbie does"

"Debbie loves me and so do you" Elvis smirked this time "and as for the answer to your question I was talking to a rather nice gentleman over there," he nudged his head towards the back of the room "about golf"

Charles raised an eyebrow at him "Since when do you play golf?"

"I don't but I need to look intelligent at these parties otherwise people will try to steal you away from me and I don't want that now do I" Elvis then looked over towards Charles' mother "Oh, mother coming on your right"

Charles looked over just as his mother stopped in front of him.

"Happy New Year, Mrs James" Elvis held up the glass of Champers and nodded once.

"I see you have found the drink then Elvis, nothing unusual about that then is there?" Pam said and then looked over at Charles.

"Darling let me introduce you to someone who will make your life a little bit easier" she put her hand on her son's arm and took him away from Elvis.

"Good luck, Charlie" he said the last bit a tiny bit louder because he knew that Pam hated it when he called him Charlie. Elvis just loved to wind his mother up. As soon as Charles and his mother was out the way Elvis put his eyes on Elena.

Elvis knew that Debbie was watching her too, they were going to make sure that if she done anything then they would be there to capture it so that they could finally show proof to Charlie.

-.-

As the night wore on Charles got very overwhelmed on everything and Elvis found him drinking more and eating less and knew that the poor guy was going to have a very bad hangover the next morning if he carried on.

"Okay I think you've had enough" Elvis said to Charles and put the drink that he had just ordered back down "No more to him, he's had enough" he said to the bartender. "Lets get you upstairs" he said to Charles and put Charles' arm around his shoulders.

Debbie came to his side and put Charles' arm around her neck and managed to help Elvis with him up the stairs. This probably didn't look good but with it close to midnight she doubted anyone would care. What she did see was Elena looking angry that Charles could ruin the night for her and Debbie has never wanted to hit someone as much as she did right now but she couldn't hit a pregnant woman.

Charles looked over at Debbie and grinned "You are more prettier than Elvis deserves"

"Thank you" she chuckled softly but knew that he would probably regret that in the morning.

Getting Charles up the steps was a little bit challenging but they managed to get him into the bedroom and on the bed.

"Charlie, you have to tell Elena that you don't want to be with her and soon because you can't keep being miserable like this, a kid will grow up and leave home and you will be stuck with someone you don't even care about" Elvis looked down at his friend and then grabbed him a bucket just in case. He would check up on him soon, they were staying the night. Laura was with Debbie's parents so they had the night here.

Debbie looked down at him and then out the window as fireworks started going off and knew that it was midnight. She moved over to where Elvis was and kissed his cheek "Happy New Year, darling" she said softly to him and smiled.

Elvis had had something that she wanted to say to Debbie but he wouldn't do it now, not here in the bedroom with a drunk Charlie "Happy New Year" he kissed her on the lips this time and smiled before he looked back at his drunk best friend who was now passed out. "I'm worried about him, Debs" he admitted.

"Me too, we will get that proof on Elena and then he can be with Molly" Debbie nodded slightly before she then pointed to the door "Let's leave him to sleep" she slid her hand into Elvis' before they both left the room.

They headed back downstairs and the noise down there was definitely light. There were people wishing each other a Happy New Year, Debbie grabbed her bag and wished everyone the same as they were her before both Elvis and Debbie headed back up the stairs. The house was big enough that they were staying in their own room.

Now that they were alone he was starting to get a bit worried about what he was going to say.

Fireworks were still going off around them and even in the grounds of the house and as he watched Debbie take off her shoes Elvis knew that this woman was the most beautiful of them all.

This woman was the one who had his heart and who had his daughter and supported him no matter what; this is the woman who he wanted to spend his life with and he honestly wished that he had done this sooner.

Elvis walked over to where she was "Debbie" he said softly and took her hands before he kissed them. "I have something I want to say" he said and then let her hands go before he dug his hand into the pocket of his black trousers and pulled out a black ring box before he got down on one knee.

"Debbie Jones," he said and looked up at her. "You are the most beautiful woman, you are the most kindest too and honestly how you put up with me really is surprising if I'm honest" he laughed softly "You gave me a life and you loved me when I was giving up hope, you gave me a beautiful daughter and I can't be more thankful but I would love you to be my wife, to put up with me for the rest of our lives" he watched her and smiled then opened up the ring box to show her the ring, it wasn't anything flashy but it was beautiful and picked out with Elvis' love.

Debbie was actually really speechless and was trying so hard not to cry but this was a beautiful moment and there were tears running down her cheeks "Yes, of course yes!" she said and then Elvis took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger before they both ended up kissing, tears mixing in with the love.

In the next room Elena had slipped in through the door and saw Charles was on the bed and she moved over to where he was and sat down next to him.

She ran her hand slowly through his dark curls and for the first time he looked so.. calm as if there wasn't anything worrying him but that didn't mean she didn't see the fact that he didn't kiss her in public, he never held her hand when they were in the same room as the businessmen and honestly she could see how unhappy he was with her.

"Why won't you just love me" she said softly and looked over his face and cleared her throat softly. Charles had been the only man that she had loved, even when they were younger it had always been him and when he married Rebecca she had been heartbroken and when they divorced she had been there for him. It had been her that he had taken to bed a few times after his split from Rebecca and then they just seemed to stay together.

Elena had thought that he loved her and that was why she was so desperate to keep him and that was why she had to get pregnant and Darren had only been to happy to help as long as she got him something.

She felt him stir next to her and she looked back down at him. "Charles" she smiled softly.

"Molly" he smiled at her. "I'm so glad that you're here, I didn't think that you would be here tonight, I have to tell Elena everything"

"Tell her what?" Elena asked pretending to be Molly, he couldn't see her because it was so dark anyway and clearly he was too drunk to know that this wasn't her voice.

"That I don't want to be with her, that I want to be with you" he put his hand up against her cheek, or at least tried to, and smiled sleepily before her hand went into his and they were being moved back down to the bed.

"Get some sleep" she said softly to him and she watched as he shut his eyes and in an instant he was asleep once more and she found herself hating Molly because Elena wasn't who he wanted.

Molly was a threat to everything.

Molly was really getting on her last nerve.

And Molly had to go.


	16. Chapter 16

New Year's Day was different for both Charles and Molly. For Charles it was all about nursing that hangover that he had and Molly was using the day to get ready for when she started at her new job.

Charles had made it downstairs and was still dressed in his suit from the night before when he sat at the kitchen table and asked Mary if she would make him a very strong coffee.

"Good night, Mr James?" Mary asked.

Mary had been at the house in the country for a very long time and had been there even when Charles was growing up, he liked to get into mischief but always found himself in the kitchen watching Mary work. In fact sometimes it actually stopped him from getting under his parents feet.

Charles tried to remember if it had in fact been a good night, he remembered drinking _a lot _while talking to the other businessmen but after that he really doesn't remember much, doesn't remember who carried him up the stairs or who sat on his bed while he was in his room.

"I honestly don't know Mary" he admitted and looked over at her but because of the fact that she was standing next to the window; it actually hurt him to look. He smiled slightly when she put the coffee down in front of him and then winced when she ruffled his curls like she used to do when he was younger.

Charles was about to drink some of his coffee when the door to the kitchen opened and in walked Elvis with his sarcastic swagger that could sometimes piss Charles off but right now he was just glad that it was Elvis and not Elena, he really couldn't put up with that right now.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and gave Mary a kiss on the cheek as he did, to which he nearly got the sweeping brush hitting him. Elvis grinned and sat down at the table and swapped the coffee for the water "You should be drinking water rather than coffee, yes it will help but the amount of drink that you had in your system you should be drinking water" he opened the bottle for Charles and then handed it over; Charles took it with a glare but drank a lot of it anyway.

Elvis drank some of the coffee and grimaced at how strong it really was "Jesus, Charlie, you drinking your feelings; although you done that last night"

Charles groaned before he put his aching head against the table hoping that the cold of it would help his head "Go away Elvis, you're too happy this morning"

"That's because it's the start of a new year" Elvis beamed, and because Debbie actually accepted his proposal the night before which he was really happy about. But with Charlie suffering so much lately with Molly and now with the hangover, they had promised to keep the excitement between them for now.

"Get a nice greasy breakfast in you, it'll help" Elvis sat back in his chair and then grinned once more as there was a groan from the table.

In all honesy Elvis was going to enjoy this moment so much that he was going to carry on with this, for a little while longer at least.

"I am going to spend the rest of the day in bed" Charles said and grabbed his water before he slowly got up from his seat, and carefully walked out of the kitchen and as he did he was greeted by his mother coming the other way. "Hello mum, goodnight mum" he said and walked up the stairs but every movement actually hurt his head.

That was the last time he was going to be drinking anything like that again. It was NYE so he could get away with it but now this was New Years Day and he was suffering.

Pam walked into the kitchen and saw Elvis sat at the table "What is the matter with Charles this morning?"

"Hungover" he admitted and grabbed himself a coffee that wasn't strong, the last thing he needed was to be gulping down strong coffee especially when he didn't actually like the stuff without milk or loads of sugar in it.

Pam tutted under her breath "That boy needs to sort himself out and get his head straight and you," she pointed at Elvis "need to stop encouraging him to do stupid things"

Elvis raised an eyebrow at Pam and knew he really shouldn't say anything but god he wanted to and before he could even stop himself he actually decided to finally tell his mother just what Charles was going through because someone had to do it and yes it should've been Charles himself but Elvis decided to actually speak to her.

"You have no idea what your son is going through do you?" Elvis asked and watched her. He knew that she was surprised by him saying that.

"Excuse me?" Pam asked and put one hand on her hip. "What do you mean I don't know what my son is going through, his girlfriend is preg-" Elvis cut her off.

"He doesn't want to be with her, he is in love with someone else and if you actually looked at your son without those judgey eyes that you've got on you right now then you would see that he doesn't want to be with Elena and that he wants to be with someone else and his stubbornness to do the right thing is making him miserable but you don't see that at all" Elvis watched her and knew that she was actually speechless.

Elvis shook his head "Have a nice day, Mrs James" and with that took his coffee with him out of the kitchen because he was sure that in the end Pam would have him chucked out so he might as well have his coffee before they head out.

Pam looked over at Mary who had been her friend for a long time and sighed softly "What do I do, Mary?" she asked softly.

"I think you and he need to have a sit down and a very long chat, he might not be a small child anymore, Pam, but he is still your son and you want him to be happy and if that means being with this other woman then you have to tell him that is what he should do"

Pam reached out and took Mary's hand and gave it a squeeze "Thank you, old friend" she smiled softly.

-.-

As for Molly she spent most of the day not actually drunk but rather using the last day she had free to do absolutely nothing and with going back to work the next day she was actually a little bit nervous but she guessed that that was down to the fact that she was working for a guy that seemed intent on being a right dick.

But if she wanted to find out just what he, and Elena, was up to then she was going to have to go into the lion's den just to find out what it was he was doing.

Molly knew that people don't take snooping that lightly and there is a chance that he could screw up the rest of her life by telling people just what she did but for Charles it was a price she was willing to take because at the end of the day, she would always have a job at his company, or at least she hoped so.

So Molly either spent it in front of the TV or she went and grabbed her clothes for what she would be wearing the next day and she was having trouble picking either a black skirt or trousers and she put them both up on her wardrobe for the next morning and would pick it out then. She picked out a white shirt and hung that up on the wardrobe too.

She got a few messages from Amber asking her if she could give her number to Clay as he really liked to see her again and she bit on her lip before she sent the reply, Molly told her to give it to him.

Her mother wished her luck for the today tomorrow and honestly she felt like she was going to be needing it as this was a company that was for some reason in competition with Charles'.

She wanted to send a message to Charles to wish him a Happy New Year but every time she went to press send she always found herself backing out of it and deleting the message.

Molly didn't realise that Charles was doing the same on the other end with a very bad hangover.

As the day was closing she she decided to have a bath and a glass of wine but just one because the last thing she wanted to do was go to work with a hangover, it was bad enough that she had found out about Darren and Elena knowing each other and that she hadn't told Charles what she had seen.

Whatever made her stop herself from telling him had been eating her up because the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Charles but Elvis and Debbie were helping her too and they needed to keep it quiet for a little bit longer, just long enough til they find out what the hell Elena was up to and what it was Darren was getting out of this deal with the redheaded bitch.

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of her mobile vibrating on the table and she picked it up to see Charles' name flashing over the screen.

But does she answer it though?


	17. Chapter 17

The guests that stayed, at the house, slowly left as the day went by and Elvis and Debbie had left in the afternoon as they had to get back for Laura. That sweet little girl really was the apple of their eye.

They made sure that Charles was alright before they even left but Debbie had said that he was flat out asleep in bed when she looked in on him and made sure to top up any water that he needed.

What Pam had disliked was that everyone seemed to know her son better than her; she didn't know about the other girl he wanted to be with, she didn't know that he was in love with someone else.

But looking back now she could see the look on his face when Elena had told him that she was pregnant, it wasn't the look of joy and happiness; it was the look of grief, of sorrow, of having to let someone he loved go.

Pam knew that he hadn't been happy since Rebecca had left; he had been so in love with her but everyone knew she had been struggling and wasn't happy after a while especially with all the press that wouldn't leave her alone so in the end Charles had let her go and told the press to just leave his wife alone. He wasn't a Prince or any part of the Royal family but they still liked to hound rich people and they hounded Rebecca til she was afraid to go out and that only made it worse when Sam was born.

Charles had come back from Lapland and he had been so happy and now she was wondering if it was down to this mystery woman. Elvis never gave her a name but she would like to find out who she was because of the fact that this was the woman that her son loved more than anything.

The cleaners came in and tidied up the house and still Charles slept off that hangover but as it slowly started to get dark Pam knew she would have to go and wake him up so she had Mary make him some toast because he hadn't had anything to eat for the whole day.

She took it upstairs and knocked on the door but a voice answered and she opened the door and saw that Charles was stood in the window. From his window he could see out over the countryside and it was the most beautiful sight and in the end that was why he loved it, he would sit up here and start making plans to actually walk those fields or to take the dog, they never had, for a walk.

Charles had been a dreamer even when he was younger and now looking at him she could see the tension in his shoulders, the unhappy look on his face and more than anything she wanted to make it go away and maybe Mary and Elvis were right; she had to talk to him. They needed to have a conversation and maybe she would point him in the right direction.

"I brought you some toast because you haven't eaten all day, how do you feel?" Pam asked and looked over at her son.

"Thanks mum, just set it down on the table over there" he pointed to his beside table before he moved away from the window and sat down on the bed "and I feel like an idiot for getting drunk but at least the headache isn't so bad" he smiled at his mum.

Pam chewed on her lip for a moment before she said "Have I ever told you the story of how your father and I met?" she asked him.

"You just said that it was love at first sight but you didn't say anything else" Charles looked at the toast but he picked one up and slowly took a bite of it. "And anyway I'm too old to have a story"

"Oh, it was definitely a _lot _different than that and I haven't told you this because I didn't know how you would see it but I think the time is now to tell you what really happened" Pam walked over and sat down on the bed near him. "And darling, you are _never _too old for a story from your mother"

"Most of my life was planned out for me, I was going to be a wife and a mother and that was that" she admitted "I was going to make my husbands food when he got home from a long day at work and I wasn't going to complain about being in the kitchen or cleaning the house"

"And dad said all of this?" Charles asked after finishing his bite of toast.

Pam shook her head "That was my parents"

Charles knew that his mother hasn't spoken about her side of the family for a very long time, she would often tell him that they weren't close or for some other reason and that his fathers parents were the only ones that Charles saw in the summers or at Christmas when he was growing up.

"My father had arranged for me to marry someone and his name was Jack Phillips and he was definitely a very handsome man, they wanted what was right for me, he had a bit of money and they wanted me to be his wife, to have _his _children but I didn't want that at all" she sighed and looked down. "I didn't want to marry a man that my parents had picked out because they didn't know me, they didn't know what sort of man I wanted"

"So what happened?"

"I made a statement and I decided that I was going to run away, I was pretty silly back then and definitely overdramatic but I didn't want to marry Jack at all, the whole town looked for me but I was holed up somewhere they couldn't find me; I thought that if they missed me for a few days that I would actually get them to change their mind. So on the fourth day I came across this beautiful man and I had heard some things about him from the locals but he didn't look that terrible to me"

"Dad had things said about him?"

Pam smiled "He was the local bad boy, everyone was told to stay away from him but I didn't see it, of course I had only just met him but to me he didn't look like a bad boy, and the first thing he said was 'People are looking for you, you're giving them all a scare' and I remember replying with 'Good, it'll teach them to stop being asses' and I saw a smile light up his face because he probably hadn't heard a girl say such a rude word"

"We sat and talked for a while after that and he got me to go home and the anger from me running away was so bad that I hadn't got them to change their minds but rather to make sure that the wedding was brought forward but I was already in love with your father, I loved him from the moment that he smiled and I knew that we would see each other again"

"Dad sounded a bit like a rebel" Charles smiled once more.

"Oh he definitely was, so over the next couple of days we started to meet up, it was abandoned places mostly but I knew that I had found the man that I wanted to be with and not married to some guy who liked to sleep with other women behind their husbands backs and slowly we started to get really serious about each other and then we got found out, the local policeman had seen us going into the abandoned place and got on to my dad; who was sadly well respected in town and they forbid me to see him again"

"Surely that wasn't going to stop you"

"It didn't, we met a few more times but one night I remember getting home and hearing the news that Robert had been arrested and I had only one friend that I knew I could turn to because she had told me to go after Robert, and that was Mimi"

"Mimi as in Mary? Our cook Mary?"

Pam nodded "She isn't just our cook she's actually the bestest friend that I had ever had, she was filling in one day here and she's stayed ever since but we did tell her that she didn't have to work for us but she refuses to leave so she's still here after all that time"

"Wow," Charles was amazed "so what else happened?"

"Well we found out that he hadn't just been arrested but they drove him out of town and for him to not come back, and they said that they were going to make sure that he didn't come back and for a little while I didn't hear from him and all that while the wedding was going ahead but the day before the wedding a letter came to the house and it was for a _Rose _and my mother was going to give it back to the postman but what they didn't realise was that Rose was the name that Robert had given me after he got me some flowers and it was so that no one would know he was talking about me, I finally got the letter and it said about meeting him in our usual place but the thing was the day was before my wedding and I knew then that I was going to go; I had to apologise to him but I packed a bag and went to meet him" she could still feel her heart pounding at the story but she carried on "and he asked me to marry him, your father wasn't rich back then but he definitely had dreams and he knew if he carried on his bad boy ways that he wouldn't get anywhere so he had everything thought out and that now all he needed was for me and I said yes right then and there and we left town, we got married a week later and I changed my name to Rose and I never spoke to my parents for a long time"

Pam cleared her throat because even though they had done what they did they were still her parents "but as time got on and your father's dream started to come true I knew that I couldn't keep my fake name up forever so I changed it back to Pam and a month or so later I got a letter from my mother saying that she was sorry for everything they had done, at the time I was having you so I wasn't sure what to do but it was your father who sat me down and said 'You know Pam, you can't change who your family is, and I know what they did was wrong and maybe they see that now, they had lost their daughter because of their ways and maybe they want to make it right; go and see them, make amends and then maybe everything will be alright' and I don't think I could've fallen any more in love with that man than I did before then"

"Did you meet them?" Charles asked and leaned his head back against the cold wall and it felt lovely.

"I did go and meet them but I still couldn't forgive them so in the end I decided to cut all ties and after I had you I promised that I would never make you do something you didn't want, I wanted you to make your own path and that's why when you married Rebecca I threw everything in to that wedding and when Sammy came along I was the best Grandmother and that's why I have to tell you that to follow your heart now and don't let Elena tell you what you should be doing"

Charles watched her for a moment and put the small bit of toast down on the plate and brushed the crumbs off his clothes; he had just about managed to get changed into an old t-shirt and some jogging bottoms before climbing back into bed this morning. "Why did you tell me how you and dad met? Why now after all of these years?" he asked and watched his mother.

"To tell you that you should be with the woman that you love and not someone that you don't"

"And if I didn't love Elena?" he asked.

"Then go and get the woman that you _do _love because you deserve to be happy and if this other woman does that then go and be with her" Pam smiled and then took her son's hands into hers.

"She keeps telling me that I should be with Elena because of the baby"

"Charles, children don't keep you in a relationship, if you're only staying because of a child then you're not going to be happy because children grow up and they leave the house and then you're stuck with a woman that you don't love while the woman that you do moves on and gets with someone else"

Charles doesn't like the sound of Molly being with anyone else but she was an independent woman and knew what she wanted out of life. "What happened, to Jack in the end?"

"Oh, he got caught laundering money and lost all of his and ended up in prison" Pam shrugged up a shoulder to say that she really didn't care what happened to him but she did hear it on the news or through some people, she wasn't really going to tell either way.

Charles laughed softly "And you really don't care one bit do you?"

"No, darling, I really don't" Pam squeezed his hands and grinned before she let his hands go. "Call her, tell her how much you love her, shout it from the rooftops just be happy"

"What about Elena? What can I do about her?"

"You leave Elena to me, you just be happy" she smiled once more before getting up from his bed and walking towards the door.

"Mum?"

Pam stopped and looked over at him "Yes, darling?"

"Thank you for telling me how you and dad met, and I'm glad that you're happy even after all of these years"

"I have my best friend, I have my husband and my son, that is all that matters, no money or jewellery or anything else, family is the true cost and when you find your family don't let it go for anything" Pam nodded before she opened the door and walked out before shutting it up once more.

Charles decided to finish up the toast before he left the room, thanking Mary for the toast and getting the driver to bring the car around, there was somewhere he really had to be.

He grabbed his mobile out of his pocket and decided to give her a ring while on the way to her flat in London.


	18. Chapter 18

Molly stared at the phone for a bit and felt her heart pounding hard in her chest over the fact that he was ringing her right now, the night before she was going to start her new job.

Charles was probably going to beg her one last time to not work at McClyde's company but she had already made up her mind so what was the point? Molly had to find out just what the hell was going on. She needed to get him away from Elena once and for all because she wanted him to be happy but he wasn't, not with her.

How could she tell him all of that? How could she make him understand that everything she was doing was to get him away from that dragon? Would he ever understand what she was doing?

Molly wasn't so sure and that was why in the end she rejected the phone call and put her head back against the cushions on the top of her sofa.

Even though it had been a week since Christmas a lot of stuff had happened in those short seven or eight days; she had found the man that she wanted to be with but his ex girlfriend was pregnant so she had lost him again and now it just constantly felt like she was avoiding him at all costs.

Just as that thought came into her head there was a knock at the door and she pushed her eyebrows together in confusion at who would be coming to her flat this late in the evening but she got up anyway and walked to the door to see who was there and when she opened she came face to face, or rather face to chest, with Charles and she wasn't sure just how to act right now.

"What you doing here?" she asked after a while.

Charles leaned against the door frame "Well you didn't answer so I thought I would drop by just to make sure that your tree hadn't eaten you"

"You were on your way here, weren't you?" Molly asked him with a slight smile.

"Yes I was" he admitted with a nod that he really wished that he hadn't done because his head did still ache a bit but at least he wasn't feeling sick so that was a plus right now.

Molly moved out of the way and then let him in, shutting the door behind him and walking after him into the front room which was warm and cozy right now and yes she still had her Christmas tree lights on, just because Christmas had been a bit horrible for her that didn't mean she had to take it out on her tree.

"I want to apologise for the way that I acted when I was here last, I have no right to tell you want to do and where you should work" he finally said and looked at her.

"I know that you don't like the guy but it's only a job, Its to get money so that I can keep this place because the last thing I want to do is go back home to my parents tiny place and not get no privacy from my siblings" she admitted and nodded once.

No one likes the thought of having to move back in with their parents but Molly _really _didn't want to do that so she would need a job and sure it was McClyde's but it wasn't just about the money but what the guy had with Elena.

There was silence for a bit where the both of them were just looking at each other and Molly felt herself break in that moment, she felt like everything holding her up had suddenly broke as she kept looking at him and she found herself moving towards him and their lips finally met and it felt like she had been holding it all in for a very long time. Charles met her lips and they just gave in.

Until the reality started to sink in and Molly pulled away from his lips "What about Elena and the baby?"

He kissed her again and said against her lips "It's being handled"

Molly sank in again because right now that felt like the best answer ever. She started pulling him in the direction of her bedroom and she got rid of his t-shirt and let it fall on the floor of her hallway before they were in her bedroom and she shut the door behind her.

They gave into each other finally and they sank into passionate sex and just being with each other right now. It was probably stupid to have taken those words as his answer but she was so tired of trying to stay away from him that she just turned it into running towards him. It was probably a stupid thing but right now she didn't even care.

-.-

After it was over they lay in her bed, Molly had her head on his chest and Charles had his arm around her, and they were just listening to the silence from her room and while they were together it made everything so much more better.

"My mum told me how she met my father tonight, they never really told me the story and it made me realise that I just want to be with you, and I know that we have an Elena size hole between us but I just want you to be the one I wake up to"

Molly smiled softly to herself as she ran her finger over his chest, feeling the soft skin under her fingertip, before she chewed on her lip and looked up at him. "Elena isn't the only size hole between us, you have a baby on the way to, you and her" she watched him.

"Molly just because there is a baby doesn't mean that you and I can't be together; I have a son with my ex wife and we have worked it out well enough when I have Sam and when he's at her house, we don't have to be together to raise him, we both love him equally and sure me and Rebecca will always have history but she's happy and so am I, with you"

"Do you honestly think that Elena will let you see your child just because you're not together? Because I don't, your baby hasn't been born yet and she's already using it to make you stay with her"

Charles kissed her forehead softly. "But I'm not going to stay with her, I'm going to be with you that is if you want me to"

Molly watched him and she knew that she had given her number to Clay, she knew that she had gone out on New Year's Eve with him but it was Charles that she loved, Charles that had her heart right now and more than anything she just wanted to stop all of this pain. But she knew that no matter what he had to remain far from what she was doing. She leaned in and kissed him for a moment. Not really answering what he had said.

They held on to the kiss for a moment before she put her head back down on his chest "But you do know that I am still going to work at McClyde's, you can't change my mind about that"

As much as Charles didn't like it, he knew she would still want to work there, but he accepted it anyway. "I think they will be lucky to have you" he whispered softly and kissed the top of her head.

Molly smiled at him and settled in for some sleep knowing that she had to keep the man that she loved away from what she was going to do. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beating underneath her head before it pulled her down into the darkness of sleep.

-.-

Molly's alarm went off and she turned it off before she looked over at the pillow to see that Charles had gone but there was a note. She reached over and grabbed hold of it before she let her eyes focus properly on the words.

**Good morning!**

**You were sleeping so I decided to leave you there for just a little bit longer, I hope that you have a good day at work. **

**Love Charles x**

She smiled to herself before she finally got up and dressed ready for her first day at McClyde's. Molly actually hoped that today wouldn't be so bad but she did have to put into motion how she was going to find out the information that Darren was clearly keeping to himself.

She had breakfast and then cleared her teeth before she headed out to work.

Arriving at Darren McClyde's office was different from arriving at Charles' and it showed because of the fact that she expected everyone to be friendly but no one smiled at her when she walked in, no one offered her a good morning and when she sat at her desk she didn't have an Amber walking over to say hello.

In honestly this place sounded like it was going to be a horrible time to work here.

-.-

Charles however just about made it into the office especially with him staying over at Molly's the night before, his mother saw that he was finally happy.

Pam however had her own day full of things she needed to do and one of those things was talking to a very determined Elena. Now that she knew the truth, there was no way in hell that she was going to let Charles carry on with this.

So when lunch time came and there was a knock at the door Pam made sure that there was enough refreshments there.

"Elena, please come in" Pam said and smiled and then let the redhead into the house before shutting the door behind her.

"No Charles?" Elena asked and looked up at the stairs, or at least the _first _lot of stairs.

"Headed back to work today I'm afraid" Pam led her into the dining room before they both sat at the table "Tea?"

"Yes please" Elena smiled at her "I'm glad that Charles isn't here because it means that we can have a chat"

"Yes, I think so too" Pam smiled and poured the tea into the two cups. "What was it that you wanted to speak about"

"Well, bridesmaids dresses and page boy outfits"

Pam put the teapot down and looked over at Elena "Why would you need to talk about all of that?"

"Well for when Charles and I get married, I mean I do want to be organized so why not sort it out now"

Pam looked at her with a raised eyebrow, this girl thought that Charles was going to propose? He wouldn't propose to her because of this other woman that was in his life. If Charles was going to propose then it wouldn't be to Elena and anyway he hadn't once spoke about marrying again; she knew that Rebecca was remarried but Charles never said that he wanted too so they never really brought it up but for Elena to think that he would marry her made no sense at all. "Elena, you and I need to chat about that"

"I knew he was going to do it!" Elena smiled and then took a sip of tea before putting the little cup back on it's small plate and then putting them both down on the table.

"Charles isn't going to marry you because you know that he wants to be with someone else"

"What do you mean?" Elena feigned before she sighed and shook her head "Molly" she spat out. "That wretched little troll is really starting to get on my last nerve"

"So that's who it is, his PA wow" Pam smiled before she looked over at Elena "Come now dear, did you honestly think that after Rebecca he would actually choose _you _to be his new wife?" she asked before letting a slight smirk pull at her lips.

"I am carrying his child, did he think that I wouldn't want to marry him or something?"

"Are you really carrying his child though? I mean come on a man wants to get with another woman and the girl that wants to keep him goes for the pregnancy card and expects the man to instantly marry her"

Elena was actually surprised that Charles' mother of all people would be saying that to her because she thought that she had a friend to help her out with this "How can you say that about me?"

"Because I know you Elena, I know that you would do anything to keep my son at your side but _no more_, you are through with making my son miserable and from today you are going to leave him alone and _if _the child is his then you won't mind if he goes for a DNA test when the baby is born to prove that it really is his and if the test comes back positive then you and I will work something out but until then you won't go near my son or his new girlfriend; am I making myself clear?"

"Are you threatening me?" Elena demands.

"Mary? Did it sound like a threat?" Pam asked her friend who had been listening.

"It didn't sound like it to me, no" Mary said and looked from Pam over to Elena with a smile.

"Well then if it's not a threat it must be me just telling you straight to leave my son and his new girlfriend alone now get out of my house and don't you darken my doorstep with your cheap perfume again"

At that Elena gasped and out of frustration she said "Oh, you will be seeing a _lot _of me soon enough" she got up from her seat and took her handbag with her and marched out of the room before letting the door slam hard enough that it seemed to rattle things in the dining room.

"Do you think she will do what she's told?"

"Well she isn't exactly the brightest of people so I doubt it but we will have to see, would you like to sit with me and have some tea?"

"Well if there is cake going to then why not" Mary smiled and took her apron off and sat at the table with Pam and they had a lovely afternoon talking about everything.

Elena wasn't going to give up _that _easily and she was going to make each and every one of them pay if it was the last thing she ever did.


	19. Chapter 19

Molly's first day at work felt really slow if she's honest. It was like she was looking at things through a glass because of the fact that everything was completely slow.

She had tried to get into the office but sadly she kept nearly getting caught and would have to come up with lies that made her look like she was a little bit idiotic but thankfully there was no sign of Elena, would she even be that stupid to show up here when people were actually around to see her?

Well she had to hand it to Elena she was pretty damn smart.

At lunch time she had sent a couple of texts to Charles and told him that the day was going okay so far, but she still felt like she was lying.

Molly wondered just how long she would have to work here before she actually found something, she guessed that it would be a while or it could be no time at all; she guessed that it depended on how hard she was going to look.

Even though she had given into Charles the day before there was always this feeling that Elena was so much more ahead of them than either knew, well Molly guessed that she was because of the fact that she and Darren McClyde had worked something out that clearly involved Charles in someway but she wasn't sure just how much involved he was right now and that was why she was here.

Molly went back and found that there was no one in the office and that meant that she was going to be able to snoop around for a little bit, she put her stuff back at her desk and went into the office and looked over the desk before she came around to where Darren sat and saw the drawers and she quickly ruffled through them but the big one at the bottom was locked and if she had watched enough stuff then this was where the important docs were kept and she had no way of getting in at all.

She searched one of the top drawers again and this time she came across a picture and this was of Elena and Darren and Elena looked really happy and Molly couldn't help but wonder when this was actually taken; did Charles know about the picture? She didn't have her mobile on her so it would have to wait. It was just as she was putting the picture back that she saw something, a ring on Elena's finger; did they get engaged?

If they had been engaged then things were starting to make sense but surely Charles would've know that Elena had been engaged or that she knew Darren? Maybe she could ask Elvis or Debbie if they knew anything but for now she was going to put the picture back and pray that it stayed there and just as she got to her desk Darren walked onto the floor.

She got lucky this time.

Molly smiled at him as he went passed and she got one back before putting her coat on the back of her chair and quickly texting Elvis to say that she had something and would explain later before she put her mobile back into her bag and then that going into the bottom drawer before she went back to work.

The others came back from lunch and she found herself thankful that she could get away with snooping this time but maybe next time she won't be so lucky, Molly knew that she was taking risks but it was worth it if she could find out just what they were up to and show Charles before it was too late.

Molly wasn't sure just how all of this was going to end but if it keeps Elena away from Charles then at least it will be worth it.

She made it through the day and she had to admit that this was easy; it actually felt a little _too _easy.

If there was one thing that she didn't like it was the fact that things were too easy.

Molly stayed a little bit later to finish the work that she had to do as everyone left around her; in fact she was the only one who was left with the light on in the office but of course there was still a light on where McClyde was but she really hoped that he went home before her but something told Molly that she wasn't going to be that lucky.

It was nearing 7 by the time she turned her computer off and grabbed her bag from the drawer and checked her phone to see that Elvis had texted her.

The door to Darren's office opened up and she was quickly reading the text from Elvis. She heard her name being spoken and looked up to see her boss looking at her.

"I know that first days are tough but you done very well today, Molly" he smiled at her.

"Thank you" she smiled back "See you tomorrow" she put her coat on before letting her bag fall against her shoulder and then starting to walk out.

"Would you like a drink, Molly?" Darren called after her and he watched as she stopped. "Unless you have somewhere to be, of course"

"No, I got no where to be right now" she smiled and then walked back towards the office and he let her walk in, leaving the door open as he walked to the desk and sitting down in his seat.

Molly's heart was pounding over this moment and she wondered what exactly he was up to, if he wasn't working with Elena then she would find him more genuine but something really doesn't add up, that didn't stop her from taking her coat back off and putting it on the sofa that he had in his office, like Charles did.

Darren poured out two drinks and Molly took a seat in the chair opposite the desk.

"You don't seem to have pictures on the desk like everyone does in their offices, no family or wife to speak of? Or even a husband?" Molly knew she was pretending not to know anything so she was putting it out there that she didn't know and asked about whether he had a husband or not.

Darren smiled and looked over at her "Not gay but don't have a wife either, I did have a fiancee" he admitted and handed the glass over to Molly.

"Oh dear, should I even ask?"

Darren sat back down in his seat "Well she went after another man and decided that our relationship didn't mean anything in the end, the cruel thing is that he had just got out of his marriage and really didn't want to be with anyone"

"And that didn't seem to worry her when she broke up with you?"

Darren shook his head.

Molly felt herself feeling a little bit sorry for him because of the fact that Elena had probably played him long enough until Charles' marriage to Rebecca broke down and then she bailed when he was single and handed herself over as a shoulder to cry on, clearly Charles hadn't even known about any of this. "I'm sorry" she admitted with a soft smile before she took a drink.

It was vodka.

The last thing she wanted to do was feel any sympathy for a guy who was clearly still being used by Elena and wondered if he even knew it or was he playing the player?

"I meant what I said, you did good today" he smiled before knocking his drink back, he hated vodka but kept it in his office anyway before putting the glass down on his desk.

"I'm glad that I took the job if I'm being honest" Molly knew that she had to make it look good but not too good that she overplayed it.

"I think you will be a great asset to our firm" Darren admitted before leaning back in his seat.

Molly smiled at him once more before holding her glass up and knocking the vodka back, she was more than skilled enough in vodka to be able to drink it back. She put the glass on the desk before she stood up "I should be getting home" she admitted before watching him "Thank you for the drink"

"Thank you for joining me, have a good night Molly" he nodded once before letting another smile pull at his lips and watched as she grabbed her stuff and put it on.

Molly walked out of the office and over to the lifts and looked down at her message from Elvis and she said that she would met him back at her flat and pressed the button for the lift and just as the doors pinged she put her phone into her pocket and walked into the lift.

She reached into her bag and pulled her scarf out before she put it around her neck as she went downwards to the ground floor.

The doors pinged open and she walked towards the doors saying goodnight to the security guard who was sitting behind the row of screens, he said goodnight back before he set his eyes back on the screens and she pushed the door open and stepped out into the cold London street.

-.-

Molly made it home safely and she was telling Elvis, who was in her flat, and Debbie on Skype, what she had found out.

"So it turns out that Elena was actually engaged to Darren, did you know that?" Molly asked Elvis who was pacing back and forth infront of her tree, that she really needed to take down.

"I didn't but I can't say the same for Charlie, though saying that she did disappear for a little while and seemed to just come back at the _right _moment but that's Elena for you" Elvis admitted.

"You said something about a locked bottom big drawer?" Debbie asked from the laptop screen.

"That's right but I don't know how to pick locks so I can't open it for you, we would have to get someone in there to do that" Molly admitted and then looked over at Elvis when he stopped.

"I can pick a lock" Elvis waved away the look from Molly "I was a rebel when I was younger and learned how to pick locks but right now it could come in handy, do you know any of the cleaning staff?"

"There is a male on it, you could always say that you're taking over from him" Molly said and then nodded "You would have to get your photo into their mainframe and be able to get passed all of it but if you think you can do it then be my guest"

Elvis grinned "Oh I can definitely do it" he admitted.

If Molly was being honest then she really wasn't surprised by the fact that Elvis could pick locks and would actually go into the office and retrieve the stuff.

It would take him a couple of days to get everything sorted out but he would go in and a couple of days would be fine with Molly to get used to everything around the place before she could tell Elvis where he really needed to be but she knew that he would be fine in the end.

"We have something to tell you" Debbie finally broke the quiet, they had been thinking about telling Molly for a little while and knew that now was just as good as any. "We're engaged"

"Oh my god congratulations!" Molly beamed, she was so happy for them.

They spent the rest of that time talking about weddings and it was nice to have friends as supportive as Debbie and Elvis. Molly found out that Charles didn't know so they would have to keep it between them just now because of the fact that he was dealing with Elena and everything that she was doing to him.


	20. Chapter 20

Over the next few days Elvis put his plan in to action but he made sure that Debbie and Molly were on hand if he needed an alibi because the last thing he wanted was to screw this up and end up getting in to trouble because then they wouldn't have the information that they would need to bring Elena down once and for all.

He had some friends make sure that the regular guy, Matt, didn't make it into the office to clean and he told the security guard that he was the replacement because Matt had a stomach bug or left it up to the guys imagination about what was really wrong with him, as he added on a few details that would probably gross anyone out.

Elvis grabbed his cleaning supplies and knew that Matt worked on the floor of where Molly worked on his own which he was glad about, after he was given the ropes of what to do he was left to his own devices and that's when he moved over to the door and grabbed his lock picking tools out of his pocket. He just hoped that he could remember how to do it or he would be up the creek without a paddle.

He took a deep breath and then started to pick the lock on the door to Darren's office.

It took him a little longer than it probably would've when he was younger but when he heard the door click he smiled to himself and got up from his knees and slipped into the office, making sure that no one was around and shut the door behind him.

Elvis closed the blinds for a moment and put on a small light that he had in his other pocket before he moved around the desk down to the bottom drawer.

This was a side that he never wanted Debbie to know but right now he was doing this for Charlie, for Molly and for love because he had everything so why shouldn't Charlie, right?

He chewed on his lip for a moment and started on the file drawer and that definitely took him a while and he was starting to sweat, swear and worry that he would get caught but like the door; the lock gave way and he opened the drawer, putting the kit to one side.

Elvis saw the familiar look of papers and he looked through them and found that most of them were just about silly things, there were receipts to for his dry cleaning and for having his car cleaned. "Wow you really _are _a douchebag" he muttered to himself before he stopped and checked to see if he could hear anyone coming and thankfully he was fine and then went back through the papers and couldn't find anything.

Until he reached a folder at the bottom of the drawer and he pulled it out and went through it and his eyes went wide. "Holy shit" he said to himself. "This is really bad"

This literally blew everything out of the water because there was no way that Darren McClyde would be able to get this without some help.

Elena was behind this whole damn thing and this proves it especially when her hand writing was on it.

"Gotcha" he muttered before he pulled the paper out of the folder and stuffed it into a pocket and he knew that this would devastate Charlie but it would also free him from the clutches of Elena.

Now he was going to have to make sure that Charlie saw this and would do everything in him to get out of what was going on.

Elvis put the folder back in the bottom of the drawer and and closed it back up after putting all the papers back and making sure that everything was done properly, he picked his kit up and put it in his pocket, he then went through the top drawer and took a picture of Elena and McClyde together, before getting up and turning the light off before opening the blinds to how they were open before then walked out the office shutting the door and then got to work, after all _Luca _had a job to be done.

When Elvis was leaving the building he sent a message to Debbie and Molly to say that everything worked out well and that he had something but would see them later.

Elvis sat in his car and looked the document over and wondered just why Darren hadn't used this yet because he could easily have done it before so what exactly was he waiting for? He ran his hands over his face and wasn't sure whether to show it to Charlie now or leave it til later this evening and then tell him everything.

He hated the thought of having to deliver this bad news to his best friend. He hated the thought of this having been done to Charlie at all.

Elvis put his keys into the ignition and turned the car on before he drove in the direction of the country house of Charlie's parents.

When he got there he sat having a conversation with Pam and showed her the document and he's never seen her look so pale that he actually wanted to get her something that would make this situation better.

"Does Charles know?" she asked and looked up at her son's best friend.

"No, I found it this morning in the office of McClyde and now I'm not sure what I should do with it, can he fight it? Can he get out of it? I don't know what to do"

Pam wasn't sure what to do either but this was something that she would have to break to her husband gently especially when this would devastate him too. "I can tell Charles to if you like"

"No, I'll do it as I have other things to tell him to and for him to prepare for this" he pointed to the paper.

"We all should prepare for this because if he does go through with this then a lot of people are going to suffer at the hands of this man, why exactly is he doing this?"

"I wish I knew" Elvis admitted and gave her an apologetic smile before he took the document with him when he left.

There was going to be dark days ahead especially for everyone involved and Elvis was going to make sure that Charlie knew about this and quick because the last thing he wanted was for his friend to be caught off guard, all the while Elvis knew about it and never warned him.

Elvis being Charlie's best friend so wanted Bones to pay, he wanted Elena to pay too and for everyone involved in getting this to pay because the James family didn't deserve any of this at all.

Elvis decided that he needed to go home and see his family and maybe Debbie would help him to work all of this out, maybe then he would be able to share this with someone else and as he walked through the door of his house he looked at his wife to be and wondered just what he would do without her.

He saw the look of fear on her face when he told her just what he had found, it wasn't fear for them but for Charlie, for Pam and Robert, for Sam.

He made a call to his best friend saying that he wanted to get him some drinks and for him to come by the house before hand so that they could go together.

Charlie said that he would meet him there and Elvis knew that this was going to be the hardest conversation of his life.

What could he tell the man who was about to lose everything because his company had been brought out by an asshole who wanted to leave him with nothing?

-.-

Charles arrived at Elvis' place and he had to admit that he was a little bit jealous of the fact that Elvis had everything that Charles wanted; a daughter, a girlfriend and Charles was trying to keep the woman that he loved but kept getting bogged down by the woman that he didn't have any feelings for.

It was sad but at the same time Elena had been there as a shoulder to cry on and now he was stuck in this situation.

Charles knocked on the door and waited as his friend opened it before he walked in, ususally Elvis would meet him at the pub but now it felt like something was up and he wasn't sure whether he liked that feeling.

"Sorry I'm late, the traffic was a little bit crazy" he admitted and shut the door behind him before following after Elvis into their front room. "No Debbie?"

"No she's out with friends and Laura is with her parents, they like to have her sleeping over"

"So just you and the house then?" Charles joked a little before smiling; he didn't get a smile back. "What's going on Elvis? You're acting like someone die.. no one did die, did they?" he asked quickly and his mind then started to think about Molly and wondered when the last time he spoke to her.

"No one has died Charlie," he saw his shoulders sink visably but wasn't sure just how he would react when he found out this news. "but unfortunately I do have some bad news for you" Elvis didn't want to be the one who told him but he was the one found it so while Pam was telling Robert he thought that he would be the one to tell Charlie. "You might want to sit down for this though"

Charles sat down on the sofa and waited for whatever bad news Elvis had for him.

Elvis explained it all, about Molly working at McClyde's to find something, to Elvis picking the locks of his office and drawer before he then told him the bad news and what he had actually found.

Charles sat on the sofa for a moment looking the document over and every word that he read just hit him in the heart and he wasn't sure just what he was going to do. "I never did this" he said after a while and looked over at Elvis "I would remember signing my company away and anyway _if _I did then I wouldn't sell it to that _jackass_"

"Do you remember signing this at all?" Elvis asked and watched him shake his head "but that is your signature on the form, right?"

Charles looked over the writing and nodded "That's my handwriting but I'm telling you now Elvis that I don't remember this at all"

"Were you ever drunk enough that Elena would get you to sign any papers?"

Charles sat back against the cushions on the sofa and gave it a big think "There was a time not long after I found out that she was pregnant, I was worried about telling Molly and I got a little bit drunk and I sat in my study and stupidly signed some papers and I guess that this was one of them" he admitted and rubbed his forehead. "Why hasn't he used this yet?"

"I honestly think that he's waiting to shop Elena too"

"Why would be do that to her?" Charles asked and dropped his hand away from his forehead.

"Charlie, Darren McClyde was Elena's fiance and she left him for you"

Charles sat there with his mouth wide open because he didn't remember that but then again there had been a time where he and Elena hadn't been friends for a little bit, she had gone on some sort of wander and they hadn't seen each other for the whole time he was married to Rebecca but then suddenly just as the marriage was on the rocks she came back into his life and pretended like she had been on one long holiday.

"I didn't know that at all" he admitted and then cleared his throat "I think I'm going to need a strong drink"

Elvis walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard, it was up high because the last thing he wanted was for Laura to get her hands on it. He poured two glasses of drink for himself and Charlie and then handed the latters over to him. "What are you going to do?" he asked as he sat down on the arm of the chair opposite the sofa and watched as Charlie knocked the drink back.

"I am going to make sure that he doesn't get his hands on my company or at least try my hardest to keep him from using _that_" he pointed at the document on the coffee table.

"And Elena?"

"Oh, I am going to make sure that she doesn't hassle us again" Charles bit on his lip gently for a moment before he then asked "Molly helped out with this?"

Elvis nodded "She wanted to know what McClyde and Elena were up to and that's why she took the job, that and for the money but don't tell her that I told you all of this because she will probably want to tell you herself about what was going on"

Charles smiled slightly and held his glass up "I need another one because it's going to be a long few days"

"Days, weeks, _months_" Elvis poured some more whiskey into Charlie's glass before topping his own up.

-.-

Later that evening he ended up at Molly's flat and they sat on the sofa together and she had heard about it from Elvis what he had found in the drawer and it made her feel so damn angry. For someone who wanted to be with Charles; Elena was making it all that much harder to not hit her.

"You knew each other at school so why is he doing all of this?" Molly asked and she sat with her legs up on the sofa next to her.

"Because he thinks that he can I guess but this isn't the playground anymore, this is outside real life and he's going to probably regret what he done"

"He blames you for taking Elena, you do know that right?"

Charles sighed "I didn't take Elena though Molly, my wife decided that she wasn't happy with me and I let her go and sure Elena was there not long after but I didn't ask her to leave her relationship for me because I wasn't even ready to fall in love with anyone else"

"You could always tell him that, sit him down and tell him exactly what happened and then maybe he will understand"

Charles watched her for a moment "If this guy has blamed me for so long then he won't understand anything I have to tell him" he ran his hand up and down her leg before smiling slightly. He honestly didn't know how to make him understand anything especially when he was clearly set in his ways, if he wanted to make Charles pay then he was going about it the right way especially when Sam... "Sam" he said and sat up quickly.

"What about Sam?" Molly asked "Is he okay?"

Charles let a grin pull at his lips "Oh, Molly, I think everything will be okay in the end"


	21. Chapter 21

Charles knew that he had to play it careful when it came to Elena, he couldn't let her suspect anything even though Pam had told her to clear off and not to both with him and Molly again he knew that she would come crawling back at some point and that's what happened one night at his own flat.

There was a knock on the door and he opened it up to see that his redheaded _friend _was standing there and he sighed before letting her into the flat and shutting the door behind her.

"What do you want, Elena?" he asked and turned to look at her before sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I have nowhere else to go" she said and watched him for a moment.

"So you thought that you would just stop by my place and see if I would take you in?" he asked.

"I am having your child" she put her hand on her stomach that was now starting to show a little bit of roundness and Elena knew that he was a sucker when it came to something like this.

Charles let his eyes wander over her and then settled on her stomach that she was holding before he slowly walked over to where she was standing, he put his hand against hers and looked up at her face for a moment. "Do you know what we're having?" he asked her and watched her for a moment.

"I have a scan coming up and I want you to be there with me" Elena really wanted him to be there because if she's honest she was a little bit scared, she had wanted to show him that this was _their _child but now she was starting to grow a little bit scared of seeing it on screen.

Elena was the same height as Charles and not short like Molly who would fit just comfortably against him.

"You'll have to let me know what day it is and the time and I'll be there" he spoke softly to her and smile; he almost felt bad for her but he knew what she had done so now he was going to play her just as good as she played him and if the baby turned out to be here then he will make sure that he fights for the child with everything he has but for now he was going to make sure that he kept her sweet.

Charles moved his hand away from her stomach "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked before heading in the direction of his table where he had papers out and was looking over them.

"A cuppa might be good" she admitted before following him over to where the table was and looking at the documents "Busy night?"

"Something like that, just really updating all of my company documents; just making sure that Sam gets what he wants when he's eighteen" he nodded and headed into the kitchen which was closed off from the dining room area and got his phone out to look at Elena who was now snooping through his papers; a grin pulled at his lips because he knew she would go through it.

Elena then found something that she never thought she would find but that when Sam was born Robert had put a share of the company to him so that if someone tried to buy them out then it wouldn't be completely all gone and Sam being so young meant that it would have to be looked after by someone and that someone was... "Rebecca" she said softly and wanted to crumple the paper in her hands because not only was Molly a problem but now so was Rebecca especially when Darren had wanted all of the company.

He watched her before he then called out "I won't be too long, just got to boil the water, sorry about this"

"Take your time" Elena called back before she went back through the papers and knew that she had majorly screwed up. That Darren didn't have all of the company so now they were going to have to go after Rebecca for Sam's share and now they would be found out because Rebecca wouldn't keep quiet, she wouldn't keep this from Charles at all.

All of that planning had gone up the creek because there was no way that Rebecca would sell Sam's shares at all. Both Robert and Charles had been so fucking smart and now it had undone everything that she had done to get Darren what he wanted and there was nothing to stop him from lifting the lid on the whole thing.

"Actually I'm going to head out because I'm starting to get exhausted and I need sleep so I'll call you about the scan, yeah?" Elena put the document into her handbag before heading towards the door.

"Oh, really?" he put his phone back into his pocket and walked out the kitchen to see Elena leaving "Please do call me about the scan" Charles said with a nod before watching Elena pretty much run through that door. "Darren really won't be too please with you" he said and put his files away, it was amazing what a person can do with a bit of play acting but it was true, Sam had a very large share in the company which had grown when Robert had retired.

Elena made it to her car and she grabbed her phone out of it before quickly ringing Darren and saying "We have a problem, I've just found a document and you are not going to be happy, Charles' son owns half of the company, Robert had put some in his name when he was born and with Robert now retiring; his half goes to Sam so there for Charles and Sam are equal partners or at least at the moment Rebecca is looking after it for him so I know that she won't sell and it'll get back to Charles" she said all of that quickly before leaning back in her seat. "What are we going to do?" she then heard the line go dead "Hello?"

"Shit" she said and threw her phone into her bag and knew that all of this was going to be discovered.

Elena knew that her time was coming to an end and she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Charles looked down at the parking bay and smiled before he grabbed his mobile out of his pocket and called the number "I think they will be heading your way, Becky.. please be careful, thank you for doing this and remember to call me as soon as someone gets in touch with you, thank you again and be careful, goodnight love" he said and then ended the call.

The last thing he wanted to do was get Rebecca involved but they needed to bring them down once and for all.

-.-

Charles got the phone call from Elena about the scan and he was sat in the waiting room and looking at the time, he remembered being here with Rebecca when they were having Sam and she put her hand on his thigh and told him that everything would be alright. It was then that they found out he was having a son and he probably cried at that news because just seeing their baby on the screen was enough to make anyone emotional but then to add on the news that they were having a son and it felt like a double whammy.

He had held her hand as she gave birth, even though she had squeezed it til he couldn't feel anything in it but he wouldn't have missed it for the world.

He came back around to the present when Elena put her hand on his and he smiled over at her before they were called in.

The nurse was really friendly and started talking through everything and then asked if Charles was the father.

"Yes" _probably not_, and he smiled at her before he came to Elena's side and Charles knew that this was being plain cruel to her, letting her think that this would mean they would end up as one big happy family but he needed to keep Elena on side for just a little bit longer.

The nurse put some gel on Elena's stomach and then started the scan and up on the screen was a baby and it took Charles by surprise at the emotion that he was starting to feel, he couldn't fake this at all because in the end of all of this there really was a baby in the mix.

"Do you want to know the sex?" The nurse asked and looked between the two of them.

Elena looked over at Charles and he nodded before she smiled and looked back at the nurse "Yes please"

"It's a girl, congratulations you are having a daughter"

Charles felt his heart give a mighty thump at that because if this was his child then he was going to have a daughter and a son and who wouldn't want that?

He left the room looking at the scan and for a moment he wanted to hold on to this because of the fact that he would have a daughter but there was also this aching feeling that Elena wasn't being that truthful about all of this and if the baby turned out not to be his then what would he really feel?

Sadness? Relief? Devastated? All of those together? He wasn't sure but he knew that they had to get it all sorted out one way or another.

He was about to say something to her but his mobile went off and he saw that it was Rebecca and now was the time to get it all sorted out once and for all. Charles answered the phone and started to act the part "Is he okay?" he asked in a rush before biting down on his lip "I'll be right there" he ended the call and looked over at Elena "It's Sam, we're going to have to go" he said.

Elena put the picture in her bag and headed out with him "Did Rebecca say what was going on?"

"Only that Sam was hurt and that I needed to get to the house quickly"

They left the clinic and headed in the direction of Rebecca's place before they parked outside and headed into the house, he hated using Sam as an excuse to get them here quickly but it was the only way they could both get here and now they were at the house with the door firmly shut did Elena come face to face with someone that had been trying to buy Sam's shares of the company.

"Felix" Elena said and her eyes widened at the thought that Charles might've played her.

"Miss Elena" he said and looked between all three of them before letting his eyes fall on Elena once more.

The redhead was starting to fume at the fact that they had lied to her that she turned her eyes to look at Charles "You said it was about Sam" she said angrily.

"I played you just like you played me all this time so why don't you get Darren on the phone and get him down here, _now_" Charles was angry and he wanted that jackass here in person.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Elena said and shook her head once. "I don't know who that even is"

"Don't play me anymore Elena, I know all about you and McClyde," he then took his phone out of his pocket and showed her the picture "game is over, you lost"

Elena looked at the picture and saw when she was happy with Darren and felt her throat tighten before she reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone out and gave him a call, he would be there as soon as he could be. Her eyes then settled on Charles "I didn't want to do this, you have to believe me"

Charles watched her for a moment and then said in a cool and calm voice "No, I really don't, not anymore"


	22. Chapter 22

When the door finally went there was this sort of calmness in the room that had settled not long after Charles had told Elena that he had had enough of listening to her and wasn't going to do it anymore but of course Elena was stood there sniffling over the fact that she had been found out

Rebecca answered the door and Darren walked in and looked around the room at everyone in it.

The first thing he said was to Elena "Oh dear you really do have yourself into a pickle" he said and then put his eyes on Charles "Nice to see you again, Charlie-boy, it's been too long"

"Enough," Charles said angrily and settled his eyes on Darren, all of this was a complete mess and now it was time to end it, they had been caught out and he was going to put a stop to it once and for all. "You are not going to get this company and if you think you are then you really are mistaken because the next signature you need is from Rebecca and she won't hand that over for all the tea in China"

Darren let Charles go on for a moment and found that it was a little amusing for him not to put all of this together but clearly he wasn't all that bright anymore. "Why do you think I haven't actually called that document in?" he spoke after a while.

"Because you realise that you don't have all of the company?" Charles asked.

Darren laughed before rolling his eyes and turning to look out the window "I had taken you for a smart guy, Charles, so it's really disappointing for you to have not figured any of this out" he said and glanced back over at him.

"Do you honesty think all of this is funny?" Charles really didn't find it amusing because this was his life and that for his son.

"Actually I think it's hilarious just how dumb you actually are" Darren turned and looked over at Charles once more before glancing at Elena. "The document wasn't even real, I don't have anything of your company and if you don't believe me then you can ring up as many people as you want and they will tell you the truth, hell why don't you ask your own board members"

Charles was confused because of the fact that he had seen the document and had read it and he was going to say that when Elena spoke instead.

"You played me" She said with anger in her tone.

"Did you honesty think that none of this would come back to bite you in the ass, Elena? You had me believing for a while that you actually loved me but then ran as quickly as you could when Charles marriage ended"

Charles looked over at Rebecca for a moment and wondered just what would've happened if they were still married now, would they have any more children? Would they be celebrating a big anniversary? Would he still have fallen in love with Molly Dawes? Would Elena have tried to split them up? He looked away and back over to the two standing in front of them.

"I had you fill out the form because of the fact that it would be _your _writing all over the document, I could play it in a way that had it all fall back on you but then your," he looked over at Charles this time "girlfriend and your best mate, Elvis, hitched a plan to get the document and I knew that there would only be a matter of time before all of this came apart"

Charles watched him for a moment and shrugged up a shoulder, he didn't ask them to get involved but was glad that they had "So you are telling the truth, the company is still mine and Sam's?" he asked once more.

"I swear that the document was never real and that you and your son still have your company but there is one thing I do have to tell you"

"Don't" Elena said angrily once more and pointed at Darren.

"I'm the father of the child that she's carrying, she wanted me to get her pregnant so that she could make it look like it was your child to keep you from going anywhere"

Charles felt that like a punch to his stomach and he tried to clear his throat and he looked away "You're having a girl, congratulations" he said and nodded before pulling the picture out of his pocket and handed the scan over.

Charles felt Rebecca's hand settle on his shoulder and he glanced over before putting his own hand on hers and nodding slightly, it hurt like hell to know that he really wasn't the father of the baby but at least now every lie was coming undone.

"How the hell could you be so spiteful?" Rebecca asked before letting her hand fall from Charles' shoulder and turned towards the redhead. "How the hell could you let someone believe that they were going to be the father of your child, in fact why would you do any of this? Because Charles had someone else?"

Elena's face started to turn a little and she turned and looked at both Rebecca and Charles "Once you were out of the way the path was clear for me to get close to him and we dated for a few years but then suddenly Charles said that he wanted to just be friends as if we hadn't been sleeping together and then I found out about that little troll and I knew that I had to make you pay so I put all of this together and for a while it was amusing watching you not be with Molly"

"By the way, did you know that she went out on New Year's Eve with a guy called Clay, very handsome to, American, and they almost made out" Elena said looking over at Charles with a slight smirk pulling at her lips. "There was definitely tension between them and whether or not he even made it back to her flat well I don't really know but boy for a while he made her forget all about _you_"

"You and I are done, I don't want you to come anywhere near my family or friends for that matter and if I get a whiff of you anywhere near Molly then I will make sure that you pay for what you have done" Charles said in a calm voice and that's what made him seem even more scary because right now he was so calm.

"You can't be serious" Elena said and watched him.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious, you will stay away from everyone that I care about, you even go near Sam and I will have you arrested" Charles then grabbed hold of her arm, not hard enough to hurt but hard enough that she would feel a bit of fear and marched her to the front door of Rebecca's house.

"Charles please don't do this, I need your help with the baby, I love you!" she said loud enough for everyone to hear in the house.

"I love Molly" he said and looked at her "I want to be with Molly" he finally said and looked at her before letting her arm go and opening the door "Now get out and stay the hell away from everyone I care about and that includes Molly"

Rebecca had followed after them and she was careful because of the fact that Elena was pregnant but she made sure that the redhead went out the door and then shut it up in her face.

"Charles!" she yelled through the door. "Charlie, please, I love you!"

Both Rebecca and Charles walked back into the front room and that's when they received a document from Darren "I assume you left this out for Elena to give to me" he then smiled slightly before nodding. "I wanted to use you to get to her and for that I really do apologise"

"If my son loses anything then I will make sure that I come to your building and kick your ass" Rebecca said and grabbed the document from Darren's hands.

Darren had to admit that he liked Rebecca and Charles was a fool to have let her go but if they weren't happy then what was the point in staying together because they would've only made each other miserable. "You don't have to worry about Sam, everything is still there" he repeated and then looked at Charles "Do you want me to send Molly back in your direction?"

"No for now I think she will be more happier where she is just take it easy on her and not make her pay for her part in this" Charles said "or I really will be sending Rebecca down to kick your ass or though I think she would head down there anyway"

Darren smiled at that before he held out his hand for Charles to shake "If you ever need something, I will be there to help out" he said and then waited for a moment before Charles put his hand into his and then shook.

"I might take you up on that but for now, please just get out of my ex-wifes house or she will be doing it for you" he said with a smile and then let Darren's hand go before looking back at Rebecca.

"Felix, let's go."

"Wait," Charles said and turned "if this was all a ploy to get to Elena then what was he doing here?"

"Rebecca will tell you in the end" he said with a smile before walking out of the house with Felix, at least Elena wasn't still banging on the door but had taken herself off but something told him that this wasn't going to be the last they heard of Elena and would have to make sure that they were all protected before hurricane Elena headed back their way.

-.-

Charles and Rebecca sat and talked for a little bit and he felt like he could breathe a bit better now that Elena was out of his life or at least he had told her straight just how he felt and maybe now he won't hear from her anymore.

"You definitely look much more happier" Rebecca said and smiled at him, she had definitely seen a change in him when he finally told Elena that he didn't want anything to do with her and now here he was sitting on her sofa looking a different man.

"I feel it because now I can finally be with the woman that I love" he admitted and smiled back.

"Go and get her" Rebecca told him straight. She just wanted to see him happy and if he was with Molly then she was more than happy for him. Rebecca knew he had taken it hard when she told him that she was struggling in their marriage and to see him happy now was like making all of this so much more better.

He kissed her cheek and got up from the sofa "It's my turn to have Sam this weekend, isn't it?" Rebecca then nodded at him and he beamed "Great, thanks Bex" he said before leaving the house.

Today had changed so much and he felt so much lighter than he had when he went into Rebecca's house, in fact for the first time in a few weeks and there was only one person he wanted to see right now. They had been secretly together for a while but he had to make sure that playing Elena looked convincing so any messages he wanted to send he would make sure that he would use Elvis for that.

So when Molly answered the door to her flat she developed him in a really passionate kiss that they kept going for a little bit before she moved out of the way to let him in the door and they walked into her front room.

It was there where Charles told her everything about what had happened at Rebecca's house and how they were now free of Elena or at least as free as they can be but it means that they can now be together.

Molly couldn't believe that they were finally able to be together openly now that Elena wasn't going to be part of his life but there was this fear that she would come back. Even if she knew that Charles would do everything in his power to actually protect her from Elena; she was also very independent and wanted to be able to stay like that.

Then Charles done something that she never thought he would do or at least not at the moment. He got down on one knee and said as he looked up at her "Molly, I know that we've only known each other a few months but I feel like I've known you for a lot longer than that, you have become very special to me and living without you has been very difficult to do, marry me and be my wife, marry me and stay by my side for the rest of our lives" he would've got out a ring but he honestly didn't have one because of everything that had happened, he didn't think getting rid of Elena would have been done this soon but now that it was over he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Molly and he wasn't more sure about anything in his life. "We will have to get you a ring but still I want you to marry m-" he was cut off by her lips coming to his and kissing him.

She had been so shocked but Molly was sure that they had been apart long enough and now she just wanted to be with him openly and honestly. They held the kiss for a little bit and then as she pulled back she had a smile on her lips and finally she said "Yes, I will marry you"

Charles stood up and picked her up in his arms before kissing her again and this time he knew that it was going to be the first of many that they shared from here on out.


	23. Chapter 23

**A few months later**

**December **

"You nervous?" Charles asked as he helped him with his tie and quickly moved his eyes up to look at his best friend before dropping them back down to his tie.

"A little bit" Elvis said and took a deep breath, he knew that Debbie wouldn't leave him at the altar but there was always that pit in the bottom of his stomach that kept him on his toes and while they were both getting ready at Charlie's flat he had felt it a lot more now than he had last night when he went to bed.

"Trust me, Debbie will turn up, she has no choice because it looks like she's stuck with you" Charles grinned at him and laughed softly as Elvis muttered something that sounded like _prick _under his breath.

"I feel sorry for Molly having to put up with you for the rest of her life"

"Ah, she loves me mate" Charles finished Elvis' tie which was blue, along with his own, and then stood back to look at his handy work. "There you go, looking somewhat human"

"Gee, thanks" Elvis said and then moved from his spot to do the cuffs up on his shirt before he glanced a look at Charlie "You heard from Elena recently?" he asked but knew that she was still a sore subject and that was a good thing because of everything that she had put him and Molly through so it was only fair that they didn't invite her to the wedding, it's not like they were a huge fan of her anyway.

"Nope and I'm glad we don't hear from her anymore because Molly has suffered enough when it comes to her and now we're just waiting to set our own date but we've been too busy helping with yours and Debbie's wedding so we haven't even got around to starting ours just yet"

"Well there's no rush" Elvis smiled before going over to his other cuff and making sure that the button was closed in the hole and when he managed to get that done he looked in the mirror at himself and knew that how he looked right now it would be nothing compared to how beautiful his bride would be.

Charles made sure that he had the rings and put his jacket on before helping Elvis with his and clapping him on the shoulder and saying with a smile "You ready?"

"To marry the woman I love? Yes I am" Elvis replied with a smile before he finally made sure that he had everything he would needed before they headed out to the church, Charlie had paid for it as a wedding present to both Debbie and Elvis because he knew that the former had really wanted a church wedding but Elvis couldn't afford it.

They left Charles' place and headed to the church, but not before they stopped off and picked up Sam, sadly he had ended up staying the night at his grandparents place and they had got him from there, and he could see that Elvis was now starting to get a lot more nervous about the wedding and he has never seen Elvis so shaken before so this was a first to see a guy who was so steadfast acting like a nervous guy.

Charles put some music on for Elvis to calm down to but he wasn't really sure that it would help so he opened the window too.

As they arrived at the church; across town four ladies were getting ready for the wedding; Debbie, Molly, little Laura and Debbie's sister Monica. The two bridesmaids were in a beautiful blue colour dresses and Laura who was the flower girl was in a white dress with blue flowers around her waist and a blue headband in her hair.

The three eldest ladies were having their up and away from their faces and with Molly and Monica already done they helped with Laura's outfit while Debbie's mother helped her get into her dress.

Molly knew that this would eventually be her but at the moment they haven't really had time to sort anything out but at the same time they weren't really in a rush to get married, they loved each other and right now that was enough.

She couldn't believe that it was almost Christmas again and two of the greatest people that she has ever known were finally getting married after being together for years!

When Debbie stepped out from behind the screen she looked over at her three favourite people and smiled and there was gasps from Monica and Molly because of how she looked in the dress, she felt like a princess and Debbie was more than grateful to Charles for paying for them to get married in a church.

They made finally preparations to make sure that everything was done up and each others hair was still secure and had a few pictures taken by Debbie's mum and then they picked up their flowers and the three girls walked out to the car while Debbie was waiting for her dad and then before long they were all leaving for the church.

Molly was glad that they didn't have any snow because the last thing they needed was to have traffic distruptions and not make it to the church.

So when they pulled up outside, everyone sitting in their seats, Molly helped Laura out the car and gave her her basket of petals before helping Debbie get her dress sorted and before long they were heading in.

The doors opened and Laura walked in first with the petals and started to throw them on either side of her as she walked down the aisle and smiled at her dad as she got to the altar and sat down next to her other Nanna.

"You know that the best man gets off with the bridesmaids don't you?" Elvis whispered to Charlie who grinned at him.

"Oh I only have my eye on one of those bridesmaids" he whispered back before looking forward once more as the first bridesmaid walked down the aisle which was Monica, Debbie's sister.

Monica winked at Elvis who smiled at her before she stood over to the side of the bride.

Then Molly was the next one and as she walked down the aisle Charles and when she got near him she poked her tongue out to the side at him before he grinned at her and she walked over to where Monica was standing.

The music changed and Debbie walked in through the door with her dad and it was the most beautiful moment that it made Molly's heart soar with love for that very special woman who had come into her life when they were all on a Christmas holiday the year before.

Molly watched Elvis and saw the look on his face and couldn't help but smile because of the look on his face was pure love; it was beautiful and it was true and she was so happy to be sharing this day with the both of them. A day she wasn't sure if she would see because of Elena, she put that thought out of her head and went back to watching Debbie getting closer and closer to them.

Monica took Debbie's flowers and their father gave her hand to Elvis before the two of them stepped forward and the dad sat down with the rest of the family on the front bench.

The vicar read out a few things and Elvis and Debbie said their vows and before long they were married, they were finally Mr and Mrs Harte and Charles commented that it had been a long time coming.

They all left the church and headed to the first reception. There was food and drink and definitely lots of laughter when Charles delivered his Best Man speech and some of it was definitely about the days before Elvis met Debbie and how much trouble he had gotten in.

Then Elvis' dad had said a few words along with Debbie's dad and then Elvis and Debbie took their turns and the latter then added on at the end of her own speech.

"We just want to thank each and every one of you who had made it to this beautiful wedding and we also would like to tell you that in the Spring we will be having another baby" the hall the erupted into cheers and applause and they both ended up laughing before Debbie continued and said "we are all excited to see if Laura will be getting a brother or a sister and honestly we couldn't wait to share the news with you today so thank you for coming and sharing this special day with us, hope you enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening"

Charles then did a toast to the special couple and to Laura of course for being the best big sister that anyone could ask for.

They finished up the afternoon reception before they headed back to their places to get ready for the night and Molly was so looking forward to shaking her thing on the dancefloor.

-.-

The hall had been transformed into a party hall and it looked amazing with all the balloons now on the floor and the disco lights moving around the room and the music was loud and it was definitely needed.

Debbie and Elvis had their first dance together and when all the others joined in Molly and Charles ended up on the dancefloor to and she put her arms around him and smiled up at the man that she loved.

"You look beautiful today" he said and smiled down at her to. Molly looked beautiful every day but today she looked extra beautiful in her dress and how her hair was up.

"I think we should start to plan ours in the New Year" Molly muttered to him and Charles nodded his head, he had been thinking the same.

"I just want to make you my wife so it doesn't matter what date we set, as long as it's you and everyone I care about then I will be the happiest man alive"

Molly had met Rebecca and honestly she was the loveliest woman and there wasn't no awkwardness between them at all, the two had sat down and chatted like they were old friends and Rebecca had told her that she was glad Charles had found someone as special as her because he really did deserve to be happy, Molly didn't feel any jealousy towards the woman who had been previously married to Charles. In fact it might sound weird but she was thinking about inviting Rebecca to the wedding too.

After the first dance was over they got down to the best parties songs and watching Elvis' nonna do the YMCA was the best bit because she had all the kids dancing with her along to the music.

This parties was one of the best parties she had been to and Molly found herself thinking back to the Christmas party the year before and knew that it really would be one to remember.

Halfway through the night Debbie and Elvis left to start their mini honeymoon in the hotel that had been booked for them, Laura was going back to Debbie's mothers for a few days or it had been worked out that she would spend one night with Debbie's parents and the other night with Elvis'.

There had been more food, more laughter and drink and dancing and in the end Molly's feet was starting to ache in her shoes and when she took them off she was so much shorter than Charles that he teased her about it but they ended up dancing more and they both had the times of their lives, which incidently came up on the music playlist.

So did a few Christmas songs and Molly and Charles' favourite song: _Don't Go Breaking My Heart _which Molly put her hand against her face when she heard it because of how embarrassing that memory would be but if it got her her soon to be husband then it would go to the list of memories that they would tell their kids when they had some.

Then sadly their night was coming to an end and with Sam fast asleep in a booth they knew they had to get out of here and head home, Sam was staying with them for the next couple of days anyway so they would be going back to Charles' place. They said their goodbyes to everyone and Molly made sure that she had everything, including her shoes on, before they headed out to the car; Charles was carrying his heavy son.

Sam was put into the back seats of the car while Molly and Charles got into the front two seats and he drove them out the car park of the hall and heading in the direction of his home.

"I had the best night" Molly smiled and leaned her head back against her head rest and smiled when Charles reached over with one hand and took hers before kissing it and letting it go back to her lap.

"I am so glad about that, Sam looks completely wiped out and I'm going to have to wake him up to get him in his pjs when we get home" he said and smiled.

Charles had never thought that he would be happy again but with Molly all of those dreams were so possible and much more. He had finally found the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and knew that his son loved her as much as he did and now he just wanted to marry her.

But Christmas was coming, New Year was coming and then they would sort out their own wedding.

They came to a crossroads and waited for a moment and when their light was green they started to head forward and it happened.

"Charles! Look out!" Molly said quickly as the car hit his side.

It had been so fast that they were being taken for a ride before the car flipped over and then landed against something hard but it didn't seem to matter to all three of the occupants in the car because they never felt the car stop as they had all been knocked out.

The man in the car was grinning to himself and rather than get out to see if they were alright; he sped off.

Were they alright in the end?

Were any of them going to get out of this alive?

**The End**

**Or is it? **

**-.-**

**I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, read, looked at this story. Though I don't often put Author's Notes I do appreciate every review that I get because without those reviews I really wouldn't be writing so thank you, thank you, thank you. I really do mean it. **

**Charles and Molly will live on in the hearts of those who love them so much and that's why I enjoy writing these stories. You guys really are the best and I'm glad to belong to that group of people who love this couple more than anything. **

**Will there be a follow up to this story? Who knows but I will definitely keep you updated! **


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